The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has launched a consultation into proposed changes to the media mergers regime. These changes would expand the scope of existing laws to include online news publications and periodic news magazines within scope, allowing for potential Ministerial intervention in mergers and acquisitions involving these types of businesses. The government’s proposed changes stem from recommendations made by Ofcom in November 2021, and are intended to better align the regime with today’s media consumption habits.

The current state of play

The current UK media mergers regime is designed to protect media plurality by giving the Secretary of State the power to intervene in mergers and acquisitions of broadcasters (radio or television) or print newspapers where the proposed takeover meets specific turnover or market share thresholds and triggers certain public interest considerations, as set out in the Enterprise Act 2002.

However, the existing framework has significant limitations. The Secretary of State’s powers apply only to traditional media outlets, such as television and radio broadcasters, daily and Sunday newspapers, and local periodicals with significant UK circulation. Despite their increasing influence on public discourse, it does not currently extend to online-only news platforms or weekly and monthly print publications. As news consumption shifts to digital formats, the current media mergers regime leaves influential online platforms outside its scope. 

Recognising these challenges, there have been growing calls for reform, including by Ofcom in its statutory review of media ownership rules. Recent high-profile cases, such as RedBird IMI’s attempted acquisition of The Telegraph, have further underscored the need for a regime capable of addressing the complexities of the modern media landscape.

The Government’s proposals

The reforms proposed in the consultation would expand the regime to include mergers involving:

• online-only news outlets, including associated news apps, such as HuffPost; 
• the digital arms of print publications, such as The Independent; and 
• weekly and monthly publications, such as The Economist.

The aim is to protect public access to accurate, high-quality journalism from diverse sources while keeping pace with modern news consumption trends.

This consultation follows recommendations from Ofcom, which has a duty to review media ownership rules every three years. In its report, Ofcom recommended a more substantial expansion of the types of business in scope, to include all “news creators”. By opting for the narrower expansion proposed in this consultation, DCMS is recognising the tricky balance that the media mergers regime must achieve between protecting media plurality and freedom of expression in the UK, whilst avoiding casting the net too wide. The latter could place undue burdens on businesses, government and regulators, and reduce the attractiveness of the UK’s media sector to investors.

The consultation, which runs for six weeks, invites views from both industry stakeholders and the public. The consultation closes at midday on 18 December and can be accessed here. Pending its outcome, the reforms will be implemented via secondary legislation.

Changing media consumption: a headache for regulators and lawmakers

The media mergers regime is not the only part of the wider media regulatory framework that is being challenged by not only the scale of change in the media industry, but also its pace.

The Media Act 2024 became law in May of this year, and aims to realign the protections afforded to the public service broadcasters to ensure they remain competitive in the new landscape. Underpinning the need for legislative reform is the rise of new ways of consuming media content and the subsequent fragmentation of viewership across new platforms and differently sized screens.

This expansion to the media mergers regime would bring into scope publications that have become more and more central to the development of public discourse, but it remains to be seen whether it will be sufficient to contend with this ongoing fragmentation of readership, and the ever-changing sources of news content for UK consumers.