US cable giant Liberty Global is considering submitting a bid for British media company Virgin Media, the American firm's chairman told the Financial Times in an interview published on July 30.
John Malone told the business daily that while his interest was exploratory, Liberty Global was "doing our homework." "We have to look at it, not in a traditional way but in a quite exceptional way, perhaps with partners."
But he expressed concerned as to whether Virgin Media, which provides pay-television through cables, could survive its intense competition for customers and profits with rival satellite broadcaster BSkyB.
"The bottom line issue is, can anything flourish under the Death Star?" he said, comparing media mogul Rupert Murdoch's company to the evil planet-destroying weapon from the film Star Wars.
"There's a high level of radiation that's coming down from BSkyB. The concentration of market power that's been created means you have to scratch your head and say can anything compete?" Earlier this year, Virgin Media launched legal proceedings in Britain's High Court against BSkyB, accusing it of stifling competition.
Virgin said its move was a bid to resolve a row with BSkyB that has led to hundreds of thousands of Virgin customers being prevented from viewing acclaimed US programmes such as "24" and "Lost."
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