New Media Ownership Rules

A new media ownership policy setting a limit of 15% on the total share of the marketplace for any one owner has been created by senior ministers, according to the Independent today. A Green Paper will be published early next month setting the new limit which will cap Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in Britain, but will allow other newspaper groups to diversify in television. Calls from some newspaper groups, lobbying for immediate liberalisation allowing them to own 29.9% of an ITV franchise in place of the current 20%, were rejected by ministers. But a range of smaller, but immediate changes designed to ease the muddled system of ownership are expected to be implemented soon.

The Cabinet sub committee attended by Stephen Dorrell, the Secretary of State for National Heritage, met last week to discuss the changes. Others attending the meeting were Kenneth Clarke, the Chancellor, and Michael Heseltine, President of the Board of Trade. It was chaired by Tony Newton, Leader of the House of Commons. Mr Clarke and Mr Heseltine are understood to have argued for a higher limit, 29% and 25% respectivly. Mr Dorrell wanted a lower limit of 10%.

The BBC is exempt from any new policy.

The urgency to devise new legislation comes after the Channel 5 licence bidding in which it was apparent that there was nothing to stop Mr Murdoch expanding into terrestrial television in addition to satellite interests.