As the Disney and Fox/Sky deals rumble on, some question the value of pay-TV in a world ruled by Netflix and Amazon
One of the biggest surprises about Rupert Murdoch’s decision to sell his entertainment assets to Disney was his willingness to part company with Sky, the UK’s biggest pay-TV broadcaster. But some analysts are now asking whether Disney, which has agreed to buy a 39% stake in Sky as part of a $66bn deal to buy most of the tycoon’s 21st Century Fox group, needs the pay-TV arm either.
This concern lingers in the background as the UK competition regulator mulls Fox’s attempt to take full control of Sky – a deal that is still going ahead in parallel with the Disney transaction. Murdoch’s £11.7bn bid to buy Sky is still in doubt after the Competition and Markets Authority said the deal could be blocked because it would give his family too much influence over the UK news media.