News Corp receives Ofcom queries over BSkyB deal

[Joanne98]

News Corporation confirmed today it had been sent an "issues statement" from Ofcom, setting out the questions the media giant has to answer as part of the regulator's public interest inquiry into its proposed £8bn bid to take full control of BSkyB.

The document is understood to be a lengthy list of questions to News Corp based on objections and communications received by rival media groups and other interested parties who have voiced concern about the impact the takeover would have on media plurality in the UK.

News Corp has only a few days to answer the questions, because Ofcom is working to a tight timetable. The owner of the Times and the Sun will have to file its response before Christmas, so that the regulator can complete its own report for the business secretary, Vince Cable, by 31 December.

Ed Richards, the Ofcom chief executive, is personally handling the inquiry – which is the most politically sensitive the regulator has ever undertaken. His team is expected to work over the Christmas holiday as they try to determine if News Corp and BSkyB combined would be lead to a reduction in competition and choice in media in the UK. News Corp is seeking to buy the 61% of BSkyB it does not already own.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/15/ofcom-news-corp-bskyb

They're needs to be a global war launched against Murdock!