U.K. Media Ask Government to Examine Murdoch's Bid for BSkyB

British newspapers and the BBC wrote a letter to the U.K. government asking it to examine Rupert Murdoch's bid to take over British Sky Broadcasting Group, saying the deal could harm the public interest.

The owners of newspapers including The Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, along with the director general of the BBC, wrote a letter saying that the deal would expand News Corp.'s (NWS) control of the U.K. media. Murdoch controls News Corp.

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"We believe that the proposed takeover could have serious and far-reaching consequences for media plurality," according to the letter posted on theFinancial Times' Alphaville website.

In June, News Corp. offered £7.8 billion ($12.4 billion) for the 61% of BSkyB that it doesn't already own, Bloomberg News said. BSkyB, the country's largest pay-TV operator, rejected the bid as too low. The final price of the deal will not be decided until it has received regulatory approval.

News Corp. owns the Times, Sunday Times and the Sun newspapers in the U.K.