Ofcom Weighs News Corp Bid for British Sky Broadcasting

Ofcom has been handed an explosive case in the form of the proposed News Corp bid for British Sky Broadcasting.

The media regulator's role, in a process that has caused political division and a surprising degree of unanimity among rival media owners, is analogous to that of the Crown Prosecution Service. It will ask if there is a reasonable chance that a trial would result in a "conviction" on the charge that News Corp's ownership of BSkyB would be against the public interest. If Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards's team decides that there is no case to answer, he will simply tell Vince Cable, the business secretary, that he should allow the bid to go ahead. If they decide there is a case, he will advise Mr Cable to order a fuller investigation, which would be the responsibility of the Competition Commission. It will make a recommendation on a "verdict" to Mr Cable, who is almost certain to agree. The big question is: on what basis will Ofcom make its decision? The answer is a simple but much misunderstood word: plurality. The principle of protecting plurality - by maintaining a sufficient number of different "voices" in the UK media - is laid down in part of the 2003 Communications Act known as the Puttnam principles, after Lord Puttnam, the film producer, who introduced them to the legislation as an amendment.