When the boss of the media multinational Comcast was putting together an ultimately eye-watering £31bn bid for Sky, he recounted how a chat with a London cab driver reinforced his opinion that he was in pursuit of a crown jewel of UK broadcasting.
Brian Roberts’s plan was to use Sky to build an international powerhouse outside the US – after being beaten by Disney in the battle to acquire his prime target, Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox – but some analysts and industry figures wonder if he has been taken for a very expensive ride.
