Sharon White is stepping down as the head of British media regulator Ofcom. White joined the body, formally known as the Office of Communications, in 2015.
During White’s tenure, Ofcom was tasked with investigating 21st Century Fox’s bid to take over Sky, and concluded that the then-Murdoch-owned company would be a “fit and proper” owner of the pay-TV giant. However, Sky was ultimately bought by Comcast for US$39 billion in a high-stakes auction last year.
Ofcom is also believed to be scrutinizing the BBC and ITV’s plan to launch their joint streaming service, BritBox, in Britain (it currently operates in North America). More than a decade ago, the regulator had ruled that such a collective venture would be detrimental to competition, but with the arrival of Netflix and Amazon, it is likely to be more sympathetic to the idea.
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