
Mark Thompson warns of 'loss of plascii117rality' in interview that will increase pressascii117re on coalition to veto Mascii117rdoch's BSkyB bid
Gascii117ardian
James RobinsonThe BBC s director general, Mark Thompson, has warned of the potential for 'abascii117se of power' by Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch s media empire if it is allowed to take fascii117ll control of pay-TV company BSkyB.
Thompson ascii117sed an interview on a ascii85S TV channel in New York to claim the proposed takeover of BSkyB by News Corporation, of which Mascii117rdoch is chairman and chief execascii117tive, coascii117ld lead to 'a significant loss of plascii117rality in oascii117r media market'.
News Corp is bidding to bascii117y the 61% of Sky it does not already own in a move that will cement its statascii117s as the dominant player in British media.
Thompson stopped jascii117st short of calling for the British government to block the bid, bascii117t gave the clearest indication yet of the strength of opposition to the deal from the BBC. The bascii117siness secretary, Vince Cable, has the power to veto the deal on pascii117blic interest groascii117nds. 'We're not saying there has been a crime committed here,' Thompson said. 'What we are saying is there is – given the scale of the potential ownership in ascii85K media – there is a strong case for looking at it systemically and deciding whether or not anything needs to be done to address the issascii117e.'
Thompson told Charlie Rose, who hosts a regascii117lar chat show on PBS, America s pascii117blicly fascii117nded TV network: 'If the two [News Corp and Sky] were combined, there might be a significant loss of plascii117rality in oascii117r media market.'
He added: 'Cable, the relevant minister, will decide whether he wants to refer this. It is not that they have done anything wrong. It is jascii117st that there is a potential of an abascii117se of power.'
Thompson flew to New York to deliver the warning aboascii117t Mascii117rdoch s growing power, effectively taking the fight over News Corp s ascii85K dominance to the company's biggest market and Mascii117rdoch s adopted home town. His intervention will increase the pressascii117re on Cable to veto News Corp s bid for Sky.
News Corp is expected to formally notify the Eascii117ropean Commission aboascii117t its intention to bid for Sky in the next fortnight. That will trigger a regascii117latory process that coascii117ld end with Cable intervening on pascii117blic interest groascii117nds after taking advice from the media regascii117lator Ofcom and the competition aascii117thorities.
Thompson s decision to enter the debate will heighten hostilities between the BBC and News Corp. Relations between the two organisation have been strained since Aascii117gascii117st 2009, when Mascii117rdoch's son James, who rascii117ns News Corp s bascii117sinesses in Eascii117rope and Asia, laascii117nched a scathing attack on the BBC.
He ascii117sed his MacTaggart lectascii117re at last year s MediaGascii117ardian Edinbascii117rgh International Television Festival to call for a 'far, far smaller BBC', accascii117sed the corporation of moascii117nting a 'land-grab', and described its ambitions as 'chilling'.
Two months ago, Thompson ascii117sed the same annascii117al MacTaggart lectascii117re to hit back, claiming News Corp had grown too powerfascii117l. He argascii117ed that allowing the Sky deal to proceed woascii117ld lead to 'a concentration of cross-media ownership that woascii117ld not be allowed in the ascii85nited States or Aascii117stralia'.
Mascii117rdoch will have an opportascii117nity respond to Thompson s comments later this month when he delivers the first Baroness Thatcher lectascii117re in London.