BSkyB stake in ITV anti-competitive

Britain's competition regulator said yesterday that pay-TV group BskyB's purchase of a 17.9 per cent stake in ITV, Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, restricted competition.

The Competition Commission, publishing provisional findings of its investigation into the stake, said it would now consult on possible remedies, including forcing BSkyB to sell the stake.

BSkyB spent £940 million buying the stake last November in a move that effectively blocked cable group NTL - since re-launched as Virgin Media - which had said it was interested in buying ITV.

The Competition Commission said the stake could lead to a substantial lessening of competition by giving BSkyB the ability to influence ITV's strategy.

"As a pay-TV operator, BSkyB faces competition from the free-to-air TV offer, of which ITV is an important part. BSkyB would therefore have both the ability and incentive to take advantage of opportunities to weaken ITV or prevent it from taking actions that would threaten BskyB's interests," the inquiry's chairman, Peter Freeman, said in a statement.

The regulator said, however, that it did not think the stake gave rise to competition concerns in other areas, such as advertising and news provision.

BSkyB declined to express a view on the Competition Commission's findings.

"We will continue to engage with the Commission during the remainder of this process," it said in a brief statement.