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November 22, 2006updated 23 Nov 2022 2:46am

Branson attacks Murdoch’s ITV move

By Press Gazette

Sir Richard Branson has launched another scathing attack on Rupert Murdoch following the media mogul’s move last week to buy a £940m stake in Britain’s largest commercial broadcaster.

Branson suggested that the 17.9 per cent investment represented a threat to Britain’s democracy and called for an all-party review of Mudoch’s media empire.

Branson told The Telegraph: “There comes a time when governments have got to draw a line in the sand. Every single time the Murdoch empire makes a move on more of the British media, governments don’t have the courage to stand up to them.”

Earlier this week, Ofcom invited ITV and BSkyB to comment on whether BSkyB’s acquisition of shares in ITV represents a change of control of one or more of the licences held by ITV plc.

If Ofcom were to find that a change of control had taken place, the regulator would then need to review the real and possible effects of such a change of control on ITV’s licensed services.

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