Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has decided to intervene in Sky’s planned £1.6 billion deal to take over ITV’s media and entertainment arm on public interest concerns over the tie-up.
Ms Nandy said she will bring forward streaming legislation to allow a new public interest consideration to maintain availability of a wide range of broadcasting to on-demand programmes.
She will now ask the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and regulator Ofcom to probe the takeover and report back to her on competition and media public interest considerations respectively by January 27.
She may then decide to refer the deal to the CMA for a further in-depth investigation.
Ms Nandy said: “The legislation already specifies a public interest consideration on the need for the availability, throughout the UK, of a wide range of broadcasting which is both of high quality and calculated to appeal to a wide variety of tastes and interests.
“As I explained in my written statement dated 15 October, I believe that this consideration should be modified to apply to on-demand programmes as well as broadcasting in line with modern viewing habits and my specific concerns regarding this merger.”
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