Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government when they anticipate announcing the result of the current application regarding the merger of Sky with 21st Century Fox.

The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport formally referred the merger of Sky with 21st Century Fox to the Competition and Markets' Authority (CMA) for a Phase 2 investigation on 20 September. From the point of referral the CMA has 24 weeks in which to report to the Secretary of State; the statutory deadline for this report is 6 March 2018. Following receipt of the CMA's report the Secretary of State has 30 days in which to come to a final decision on the merger.