BSkyB has been granted the right to extend a deadline to appeal against a ruling on the 17.9 per cent stake it holds in the broadcaster ITV.

In a notice published on its website, the Competition Appeals Tribunal said that it had given the satellite broadcaster the right to wait until it has heard the verdict on the shareholding in ITV before launching an appeal.

BSkyB has not yet decided whether to appeal and wanted to wait until John Hutton, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, delivered a conclusion later this month before it decided what to do.

The Competition Commission recommended in December that BSkyB, 39.1 per cent owned by News Corporation, parent company of The Times, should reduce its holding in ITV to below 7.5 per cent.

BSkyB’s share acquisition was investigated by the Office of Fair Trading and Ofcom, the communications regulator, which concluded that the stake raised “significant” competition and public interest concerns, leading to the Competition Commission inquiry in May.

The competition watchdog ruled that the shareholding would cause a "substantial lessening of competition" and, therefore, acted against the public interest.

Under the previous timetable, BSkyB could have been forced to apply for an appeal by January 16. Mr Hutton's decision is expected on or before January 29.

BSkyB acquired the 17.9 per cent stake in Britain's biggest independent broadcaster last year, thwarting Sir Richard Branson's plan to merge ITV with his Virgin Media. Sky paid £940 million for the stake and faces a huge loss if it is forced to sell.

Sky has maintained that it has not broken any merger rules and can take its stake up to 19.9 per cent under the Communications Act.

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