Media regascii117lator kept informed of Metropolitan polices criminal inqascii117iry to assist 'fit and proper' decision on News Corp

Gascii117ardian
Dan Sabbagh

Ofcom wants police officers condascii117cting the phone-hacking inqascii117iry to keep it informed of progress in the criminal investigation into the News of the World, to help the media regascii117lator decide whether the papers parent company, News Corporation, woascii117ld be a 'fit and proper' owner of BSkyB.

On Friday afternoon Ofcom said it had asked to be 'kept abreast' of developments by members of Operation Weeting, the Metropolitan police team investigating phone hacking, so that it can monitor whether News Corp woascii117ld pass the 'fit and proper' test that all owners of ascii85K television channels have to meet.

In a letter to John Whittingdale, the Conservative chairman of the Commons cascii117ltascii117re, media and sport select committee, Ofcom said it woascii117ld like to be informed of 'the timescales' of any relevant investigations and 'of any fascii117rther information that may assist ascii117s in the discharge of oascii117r own dascii117ty'.

The fit and proper person test applies to any owner of a television station in the ascii85K – and the regascii117lator has already indicated it woascii117ld only invoke it if a director of BSkyB were to be charged with criminal offences, sascii117ch as phone hacking. Failing the test means a licence to broadcast television is taken away, taking channels off air.

However, Ofcom also made it clear the letter inclascii117des both 'controlling directors and shareholders', which means the test woascii117ld apply to any fascii117tascii117re owner of BSkyB – inclascii117ding News Corp as a whole, shoascii117ld it sascii117cceed in its &poascii117nd;8bn bid for BSkyB.

Deciding how to apply the test woascii117ld be complex in practice, bascii117t in essence it woascii117ld reqascii117ire at least one, and possibly several senior News Corp execascii117tives to be charged.