As the tidal wave of comment on phone-hacking at the News of the World gradually recedes, there is a real danger that BSkyB, the UK’s biggest television company, is left stranded on the shore. BSkyB matters. Although it does not pull its weight in commissioning original programmes, relying almost entirely on Rupert Murdoch’s “twin battering rams” of sports and movies, its economic importance is undeniable. Its annual revenues of over ￡6bn outstrip the combined income of the BBC and ITV. And it recently passed its bold objective of 10m subscribers.

Only six weeks ago BSkyB’s fate seemed certain. News Corp’s undertakings to hive off Sky News as an independent company were to be accepted by the government. For the shareholders the only question was the price for their outstanding 61 per cent. For News Corp this was an attractive opportunity to consolidate the cash flows of a mature and profitable business.

Phone-hacking changed the rules The bid went to the Competition Commission, which now has a chance to review the issue of plurality of UK media ownership in a measured and detailed manner. It should start by ignoring the European Union’s perfunctory ruling in favour of the takeover.