Sky faces broadcast licence scrutiny

UK media regulator Ofcom has appointed a team to closer monitor whether News Corp-backed satcaster BSkyB is ‘fit and proper’ to continue to hold a broadcast licence.

The dedicated team was set up in January to scrutinise information coming out of the UK government’s Leveson inquiry, which is looking into press and police relations in the wake of the hacking scandal at News Corp subsidiary News International.

The unit was established on the back of initial investigations prompted after Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corp’s abandoned its US$12bn bid to acquired the 60.9% of Sky it doesn’t own.

News Corp was forced to end the pursuit in the midst of explosive revelations about journalists’ practices at the now defunct News of the World newspaper.

Questions have previously been raised as to whether News Corp and Sky chairman James Murdoch – who quit his role at News International last week – are ‘fit and proper’ to be involved in the running of the satcaster.

Now, the specialist Ofcom team – known as Project Apple – is upping the ante, applying this same corporate governance test to Sky and assessing whether it should continue to hold a broadcast licence in the wake of the scandal, the Financial Times has revealed.

However, it’s unlikely a decision will come until the Leveson inquiry is further advanced. “New evidence is still emerging from the various enquiries in relation to the hacking and corruption allegations. Ofcom is continuing to assess the evidence that may assist it in discharging its duties,” said the regulator.

Calls for government to curb News Corp’s influence on the UK’s media sector have rumbled on since the beginning of the hacking scandal last year.

A spokesman for Sky said today the company had no comment on the latest developments at this time.