Mark Thompson warns of 'loss of plurality' in interview that will increase pressure on coalition to veto Murdoch's BSkyB bid

The BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, told American television 'there is a potential of an abuse of power' if News Corporation takes over BSkyB.

The BBC's director general, Mark Thompson, last night warned of the potential for "abuse of power" by Rupert Murdoch's media empire if it is allowed to take full control of pay-TV company BSkyB.

Thompson used an interview on a US TV channel in New York to claim the proposed takeover of BSkyB by News Corporation, of which Murdoch is chairman and chief executive, could lead to "a significant loss of plurality in our media market".

News Corp is bidding to buy the 61% of Sky it does not already own in a move that will cement its status as the dominant player in British media.

Thompson stopped just short of calling for the British government to block the bid, but gave the clearest indication yet of the strength of opposition to the deal from the BBC. The business secretary, Vince Cable, has the power to veto the deal on public interest grounds. "We're not saying there's been a crime committed here," Thompson said. "What we're saying is there is – given the scale of the potential ownership in UK media – there's a strong case for looking at it systemically and deciding whether or not anything needs to be done to address the issue."

Thompson told Charlie Rose, who hosts a regular chat show on PBS, America's publicly funded TV network: "If the two [News Corp and Sky] were combined, there might be a significant loss of plurality in our media market."

He added: "Cable, the relevant minister, will decide whether he wants to refer this. It's not that they've done anything wrong. It's just that there is a potential of an abuse of power."

Thompson flew to New York to deliver the warning about Murdoch's growing power, effectively taking the fight over News Corp's UK dominance to the company's biggest market and Murdoch's adopted home town. His intervention will increase the pressure on Cable to veto News Corp's bid for Sky.

News Corp is expected to formally notify the European Commission about its intention to bid for Sky in the next fortnight. That will trigger a regulatory process that could end with Cable intervening on public interest grounds after taking advice from the media regulator Ofcom and the competition authorities.

Thompson's decision to enter the debate will heighten hostilities between the BBC and News Corp. Relations between the two organisation have been strained since August 2009, when Murdoch's son James, who runs News Corp's businesses in Europe and Asia, launched a scathing attack on the BBC.

He used his MacTaggart lecture at last year's MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival to call for a "far, far smaller BBC", accused the corporation of mounting a "land-grab", and described its ambitions as "chilling".

Two months ago, Thompson used the same annual MacTaggart lecture to hit back, claiming News Corp had grown too powerful. He argued that allowing the Sky deal to proceed would lead to "a concentration of cross-media ownership that would not be allowed in the United States or Australia".

Murdoch will have an opportunity respond to Thompson's comments later this month when he delivers the first Baroness Thatcher lecture in London.

By:- James Robinson

Source:-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/oct/08/rupert-murdoch-bskyb-takeover-bbc