Fox/Sky Won't Substantially Change European TV Content Market, EC Says

21st Century Fox's buy of Sky will cause only a limited increase in Sky's power in the TV content market, so the deal is getting European Commission regulatory approval without conditions, the EC said in a news release Friday. It said the two largely operate in different European markets and compete only in acquiring TV content and in the wholesale supply of basic pay-TV channels. The EC said its review decided Fox/Sky audience share would be too limited for Fox to be able to restrict Sky's competitors' access to video content, and Sky's unlikely to quit buying content from Fox competitors because of the quality of Sky's product. Having received EC approval, Fox said in a statement Friday, it's "confident that the proposed transaction will be approved following a thorough review process" by the U.K.