The attempts to present Sky's purchase of a stake in ITV as a success says more about the power of Sky's PR budget than anything else. The Court of Appeal yesterday ordered Sky to sell down it's stake which is pretty much game over for this particular episode.
If Sky had left the courtship of ITV and Virgin Media to go ahead would a new UK media superpower have emerged ? Most unlikely - an ITV Digital outcome with monkey in tow was much more likely. Think of the rights that could have been snappped up in this market for £800 million.
However, the real issue is that Sky is very squarely in the regulators crosshairs now, and if the Labour Party should sqeak in at the next election, the full cost to Sky of the raid on ITV could be much greater than £807 million.
If Sky had left the courtship of ITV and Virgin Media to go ahead would a new UK media superpower have emerged ? Most unlikely - an ITV Digital outcome with monkey in tow was much more likely. Think of the rights that could have been snappped up in this market for £800 million.
However, the real issue is that Sky is very squarely in the regulators crosshairs now, and if the Labour Party should sqeak in at the next election, the full cost to Sky of the raid on ITV could be much greater than £807 million.