Asked by: Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party - North Antrim)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the broadcasting standards set out in the Enterprise Act 2002, if he will make an assessment of adequacy of Comcast's (a) compliance and (b) customer service record in the (i) UK and (ii) US in relation to that company's bid to take over Sky Plc.
Answered by Matt Hancock
The Secretary of State has powers to intervene in certain media mergers on public interest grounds under the Enterprise Act 2002. The decision to intervene is quasi-judicial and must be taken independently based on all relevant evidence available. Guidance on the Enterprise Act 2002 sets out the scope of the broadcasting and cross-media public interest considerations. Any transaction will be looked at on its merits, on a case-by-case basis. Due to the quasi-judicial nature of the decision, it would be inappropriate to comment further in relation to any specific transaction.