BSkyB ruling welcomed

BECTU has welcomed the Competition Commission's provisional ruling that BSkyB's 17.9% stake in ITV restricts competition.

The Competition Commission has provisionally found that BSkyB's acquisition of 17.9% of ITV shares 'restricts competition and therefore operates against the public interest'.

BECTU's General Secretary Gerry Morrissey said: "BECTU welcomes this decision. If BSkyB had been allowed to retain its share in ITV it would have been bad for employees, viewers and the health of British broadcasting.

"We now expect Virgin to talk to BECTU and outline its plans for the future of the commercial channels."

The union hopes this decision will pave the way for talks to take place on an ITV/Virgin merger. Being the recognised union at both companies, BECTU welcomes the opportunity for talks on how to move ITV forward so that greater investment can be given to programming, news and regional output.

The Competition Commission's finding supports BECTU's submission to the Commission in June this year, in which the union stressed that the merger would allow BSkyB privileged access to ITV strategic policy thinking in areas of direct commercial interest to Sky, most notably in the TV advertising market which between them BSkyB and ITV control over 50% of the market.

BECTU now expects BSkyB will be required to sell its shares in ITV, at a significant loss.