KK wrote:BBC News wrote:Sky threatens to shut down Sky News to aid Fox takeover
Sky has threatened to shut down Sky News if the news channel proves to be an obstacle in Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox bid.
Regulators are investigating the deal amid concerns that Mr Murdoch's media empire could become too powerful.
Sky told the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) that the regulator should not assume "the continued provision" of Sky News.
BBC media editor Amol Rajan said it was a "credible threat".
Fox owns 39% of Sky but wants full control of the satellite broadcaster.
In a submission made to the CMA last month, but published by the regulator on Tuesday, Sky said it "would likely be prompted to review" its position if "the continued provision of Sky News in its current form unduly impeded merger and/or other corporate opportunities available in relation to Sky's broader business".
This would particularly be the case if shareholders objected to the merger not happening, Sky said.
Closing Sky News would only be an option of last resort, and the broadcaster would try to find a buyer for the media company before that eventuality, the BBC understands.
'Alarming'
"The messaging coming through is alarming for supporters of Sky News but it runs completely counter to all the investment that there has been in the channel in all the recent months and years," said Joey Jones, a political correspondent at Sky News for 16 years and now head of public affairs at PR firm Weber Shandwick.
But he said the threat was a risky move by Sky: "Inevitably this will be perceived by those who are already hostile to the proposed takeover, particularly in the political arena, as sabre rattling and as a perceived threat by the company".
Losses
Media editor Mr Rajan said that Sky News lost "an awful lot of money".
"It loses tens of millions of pounds, and I think the independent directors of Sky are sending a very clear message... that if they had to choose, maybe they'd prefer for commercial reasons to do the deal with 21st Century Fox rather than continue to fund the losses at Sky News."
The submission comes a day after reports that Fox has discussed selling "most" of its business, including its Sky stake, to Disney.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-41909321
I'd be stunned if Sky News didn't exist in some fashion, though from a monetary perspective it serves no individual purpose to anybody (unlike, say, RT or a newspaper/website, where you can use it as a vehicle to push ones own personal agenda).
Effectively having just 2 24 rolling news services (CNN and BBC News, though CNN is mostly just the US feed with some international tweaks) would be a loss. BBC's public service remit coming back as a plus again. 24 news stations can be difficult to fill a lot of the time, but when a big event happens they're people's first port of call for Live, on-the-scene coverage.
twitter.com/PolhomeEditor/status/928209068921163776
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