Church of England opposes News Corp. buyout BSkyB

[November 22, 2010]  LONDON (AP) -- The Church of England on Monday joined opponents of News Corp.'s bid to buy full control of satellite broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting.

Nigel McCulloch, the bishop of Manchester, said the church fears that the buyout would give News Corp. a potentially dominant position in the British media market.

He said the church was concerned about preserving the integrity of Sky News, which competes with the British Broadcasting Corp. in the influential 24-hour television news market.

With News Corp. in full control, "here would always be the potential for the exercise of subtle editorial influence, not least in the process of selecting which news items are to be covered and which left out," McCulloch said.

News Corp., the parent company of Rupert Murdoch's media holdings, is seeking to acquire the 61 percent of BSkyB shares that it does not already own. Murdoch's son, James, is BSkyB's chairman.

The government's business secretary, Vince Cable, has asked Britain's communications regulator to investigate whether the bid would reduce the plurality of voices in the nation's media.

News Corp. already has full ownership of four major British newspapers: The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun and the News of the World, the nation's largest. The Sun is the biggest-selling daily paper, and New of the World tops the Sunday circulation figures.

The British Broadcasting Corp., the Telegraph newspapers, the Daily Mail and internet provider BT Group PLC are among the media competitors who oppose the News Corp. bid. The regulator has a Dec. 31 deadline to complete is inquiry.

"Our concerns are not about the nature of News Corp. Indeed, we would make these comments whichever commercial organization might find itself in a potentially dominant market position," McCulloch said.

"A News Corp. in full control of BSkyB would combine one of the three significant suppliers of TV news (BBC, ITN and BSkyB), one of the two suppliers of radio news (BBC, BSkyB) and the group with the biggest market share of national press in the U.K. It would dominate both the television and newspaper landscape," he said.

McCulloch is one of 26 bishops in the House of Lords, a presence which gives the church a position of influence in political debates.

BSkyB's board of directors rebuffed News Corp.'s initial offer of 700 pence per share, which valued the company at 12 billion pounds ($19 billion). The directors said, however, that they would have backed an offer above 800 pence per share.

BSkyB shares were trading at 724 pence, down 0.3 percent, on the London Stock Exchange Monday morning.

[Associated Press]

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