The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Karen Bradley, today announced her “minded-to” decision on the proposed merger between Fox and Sky.
Under the powers set out in the Enterprise Act 2002, the Secretary of State has a quasi-judicial role that allows her to intervene on the basis of specified media public interest considerations. The Secretary had previously indicated that she is minded-to intervene on two public interest grounds – media plurality and commitment to broadcasting standards objectives – and has since been reviewing representations from all the relevant parties. The Secretary of State confirmed that she received over 43,000 submissions during the consultation, but that only 30 contained substantive evidence.
During her announcement, the Secretary of State confirmed that she remains minded to refer the merger to a phase two investigation on both of the aforementioned public interest grounds. Under the Enterprise Act, the Secretary of State must invite the relevant parties to respond to her decision and accordingly they have been granted 10 days to do so. Once the representations on this minded-to position have been reviewed, the Secretary of State will announce her final decision.
Following the announcement, Nigel Huddleston MP said “I welcome the Secretary of State’s decision to refer the proposed Sky/Fox merger to the CMA on the public interest grounds of media plurality and a commitment to broadcasting standards. This demonstrates the Secretary’s commitment to fulfilling her obligations under the Enterprise Act and ensuring that this proposed merger is given due consideration by independent regulatory bodies. I was saddened to hear of the intimidation that the Secretary has been subjected to whilst reviewing this case and applaud her assertion that her decision will be based on evidence alone.”