US CABLE company Comcast’s proposed takeover of Sky would do less damage to media plurality than Rupert Murdoch’s bid but must be properly scrutinised, campaigners said today.

The offer for the broadcaster by the owner of CNBC and Universal Pictures is 16 per cent higher than Mr Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox’s bid in a deal worth £22.1 billion.

Last month, the Competition and Markets Authority found that a Fox takeover would hand Mr Murdoch too much control over the British media.