Media: Ownership
Debate between Baroness Rawlings and Lord Razzall
Lord Razzall
My Lords, obviously this is an occasion on which we are slightly intruding on private grief, bearing in mind the travails of News Corporation. Does the Minister not agree that the concern at the time of the original bid was that, if the merger were allowed, there would be no further power for either Ofcom or the Competition Commission to intervene, even if the News Corporation share of the market got bigger and bigger? Does she accept that there is an opportunity in the future Communications Bill to ensure that intervention can take place not just when there is an act such as a merger or a takeover but at any stage thereafter if the organisation gets too big?
Baroness Rawlings
My noble friend is very expert in these matters and has gone to the core of the subject. We are looking at the existing rules, particularly in the light of the News Corporation merger. It is important that these rules that we have in place do not allow one person or organisation to have too much control over the whole media landscape. We want a vibrant media market which attracts investment, ideas and skill. The challenge is to come up with suitable restrictions on media ownership which do not unduly restrict those. We recognise the gap that he mentions.
News Corporation/BSkyB Merger
Debate between Baroness Rawlings and Lord Razzall
Baroness Rawlings
Understandably, there is a certain amount of scepticism about some of the details. As I say, this is not a final decision; we are still consulting. The point about plurality came clearly from Ofcom. Its conclusion was that,
“we consider that the revised proposed undertakings would address the plurality concerns identified in our report of 31 December 2010”.
At the moment, I cannot give the noble Baroness the details of how the money will be given.
Lord Razzall
My Lords, as the noble Baroness indicated, when we debated this issue in November, with the possible exception of my noble friend Lord Lloyd-Webber there was an overwhelming feeling that this merger should not be allowed to go through. Having read the Ofcom letter and having listened to the Statement, my overall concern, which was expressed from the other Benches, is that nowhere in the Statement or in the Ofcom letter is the question addressed of the overall media power that this organisation will have following the BSkyB merger. That seems to be a huge lacuna in the Statement and the Ofcom letter, which is dealt with simply by reference to the fact that the European Union competition authorities have looked at this issue and have passed it, and that therefore we do not need to worry about it. Looking at the faces and nods around this House, it is something that we should worry about. However, as the noble Baroness has rightly said, these undertakings are now going out to consultation, and the devil, as always, will be in the detail.
Various noble Lords have indicated their suspicion about independent directors. I noticed the noble Lord, Lord Rees-Mogg, grinning at the comment about the independent directors of the Times. I am not sure which way he was grinning, but he was certainly grinning.
Lord Razzall
My question is whether the financial obligations to fund Sky News will be absolutely guaranteed in the light of future technological developments in the industry.
Baroness Rawlings
My Lords, my noble friend Lord Razzall started off by asking about the merger and how the House had expressed a contrary view. The whole point of debate is that people should be allowed to express whatever view they wish. What we are looking at now are the reports from Ofcom and others on how to advise the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State is now putting the issue out to further consultation. The overall power of News Corp will actually be lessened because it will no longer control Sky News. It is to be a separate body and thus more independent.
On financial robustness, the 10-year carriage agreement and the brand licensing agreement that underpin these undertakings will ensure that Sky News will be financially viable. Both those agreements must eventually be underpinned by the Secretary of State, so their terms will be subject to additional scrutiny.