UK's Competition Regulator To Give BSkyB Reprieve -Report
May 20 2012 - 8:01AM
Dow Jones News
The U.K. competition regulator is expected to give British Sky
Broadcasting Group PLC (BSY.LN) a reprieve in the local film
market, as rivals such as Lovefilm and Netflix Inc. (NFLX) are
undermining the pay-television operator's dominance and reducing
the need to impose restrictions, according to the Mail on Sunday
newspaper, without saying where it got its information.
U.S.-based Internet movie service firm Netflix began a
long-awaited push into the U.K. and Ireland in January, pitting it
against Lovefilm, a U.K.-based online-video rival that Amazon.com
Inc. (AMZ) acquired in 2011. In response, Lovefilm cut its
prices.
The Competition Commission is expected to publish its findings
as early as this week, according to the report.
In its preliminary findings last year in August, the regulator
said it was looking to change the way BSkyB operates its Sky Movies
business to allow rivals such as Virgin Media Inc. (VMED) and BT
Group PLC's (BT.A.LN) BT Vision to compete on a more equal
footing.
The Competition Commission said at the time that would-be rivals
were unable to bid successfully against BSkyB for the rights to
show movies from all six major Hollywood studios in the first
subscription pay-TV window because of BSkyB's large base of
subscribers.
A spokesman from the regulator declined to comment on the
report.
BSkyB counts News Corp.'s (NWS) as its biggest shareholder with
a 39.1% stake. News Corp. also owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher
of this newswire and The Wall Street Journal.
Newspaper Web site: http://www.dailymail.co.uk
-London Bureau, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9320
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