LONDON — The pressure is mounting on BSkyB, Europe's biggest paybox, over its stake in ITV, the struggling British terrestrial web.
A group of British politicians are trying to persuade the government to investigate the 17.9 % stake BSkyB took in ITV last November.
Under the terms of the 2003 U.K. Communications Act BSkyB, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., is allowed to own a fifth of ITV.
But there is concern among certain politicians that the satcaster's holding in ITV is against the public interest.
Some British members of parliament want the media regulator, Ofcom, to advise on "potential public interest considerations" before referring the stake to the U.K. Competition Commission for further investigation.
Labour MP John Grogan said it would be "remarkable" if there were no inquiry following the Office of Fair Trading's recent finding that BSkyB's move might have given it a "material influence" over ITV.
"There are concerns on all sides of parliament that BSkyB, as the largest shareholder in ITV, would have real conflicts of interest concerning sports rights, the ITV news contract and the development of Freeview and Freesat," he said.
BSkyB's CEO James Murdoch spent almost £1 billion ($1.9 billion) on the ITV acquisition, which makes the company the biggest single investor in the terrestrial network, which is attempting to revive itself under new topper Michael Grade.
Rival NTL, the U.K. cable combo soon to relaunch as Virgin Media, complained to Ofcom that Murdoch's raid on ITV would distort competition and diminish plurality of ownership in the British media market.
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