Foxtel merger with Fox Sports in jeopardy as owners News Corp and Telstra clash over Sky News fees

Zoe Samios

December 19, 2017 2:55

Foxtel’s owners News Corp and Telstra are locked in an 11th-hour standoff over carriage fees for Sky News, in a row which may scupper plans to merge Fox Sports and Foxtel ahead of an ASX float, Mumbrella can reveal.

With just 11 days remaining until the current deal for Sky News expires, a failure to reach a new arrangement might eventually see the channel go dark. But more significantly, the issue could also stall the planned Fox Sports – Foxtel merger, Mumbrella understands.

The contract is set to expire on December 31

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Zoe Samios

Zoe Samios worked at Mumbrella between 2016 and 2019, finishing up as senior media reporter in March 2019.

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3 COMMENTS

The Count 20 Dec 17

Send Peta Credlin to 2gb and Kieran Gilbert to the ABC and shut the channel down. The only people who will miss it are those with Abbott and Bernardi posters hanging in their bedrooms.

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JG 20 Dec 17

Even better, send the Anglophile to GB.

James 20 Dec 17

Sky News and its association with Murdoch and Trump is becoming an increasingly toxic brand. I would understand if Telstra did not want to be associated with it.

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