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Competition watchdog looks into major magazine takeover


ONE OF the biggest takeovers in the British magazine publishing industry is being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority, the competition watchdog. In October, Bath-based publisher Future, whose many titles include Cycling News, Period Homes and PCGamer, said it planned to buy TI Media, which publishes Ideal Home, TV Times and Homes & Gardens among other titles, for £140 million. The deal would add


lifestyle, women’s titles, new sports, home, technology and entertainment titles to Future’s portfolio. Future, which publishes T3 and Total Film among its 140-strong range of titles, said the takeover would give


be taken to “mitigate or prevent the substantial lessening of competition”. Alternatively, the watchdog


could clear the takeover in March if it decides there were no serious competition concerns. Future said in October that it planned to complete the deal in the spring. The takeover marks the


it access to a much larger female readership. The Competition and


Markets Authority (CMA) launched its merger inquiry in January, saying it was looking at whether the deal “may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition”. The watchdog has until


March 16 to decide whether


to begin a phase two investigation.


If it goes ahead with a


second phase, it will gather more evidence to decide whether there is an “anti-competitive outcome” to the takeover. If it decided there were


anti-competitive issues, the CMA would then decide whether any action should


latest stage in Future’s expansion. In 2018, it bought What Hi-Fi?, FourFourTwo, Practical Caravan and Practical Motorhome from Haymarket. It also bought B2B publisher Newbay. That deal gave Future 49 B2B brands in the television, video, entertainment, technology and music sectors mostly in the US, as well as Music Week, Toy News and Bike Biz in the UK.


“ Call for MPs to look into No 10 bans


SIR KEIR STARMER, who is running for leadership of the Labour Party, has asked for the Cabinet to examine No 10’s decision to give briefings to only selected journalists. His move follows a walkout by journalists in the lobby – political correspondents who attend government briefings – after some were excluded from a briefing. TV political editors Laura Kuenssberg, Robert


Peston and Beth Rigby as well as reporters from the Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph, Sun, FT


and Guardian joined the walkout from a briefing on the prime minister’s speech on a UK-EU trade deal. Among those excluded were journalists


from the Press Association, and the Mirror and i newspapers, as well as Huffpost UK and Politics Home. No 10 has also caused concern by moving


briefings from the House of Commons to Downing Street. Chris Proctor, page 22


THE INTERNATIONAL Federation of Journalists recorded 49 killings of journalists and media professionals last year. This is a significant drop


from the 95 deaths posted in 2018.


since 2000, when 37 journalists and media staff were killed, but the causes of


04 | theJournalist


the loss of life during 2019 remain largely the same. Mexico tops the list of dangerous countries with 10 killings of journalists. Targeted attacks claimed


the lives of five journalists in Afghanistan and four in Pakistan. Crossfire incidents and bomb attacks killed five journalists in Syria, three in Somalia and two in Yemen.


The Competition and Markets Authority was looking at whether the deal ‘may be expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition’


Journalists’ death toll falls to its lowest for 20 years The death toll is the lowest


Haiti, Nigeria, the Philippines and Northern Ireland each saw the death of one journalist in violence from civil and political unrest.


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