Sky loses appeal to retain 18 percent stake in ITV

Gerald Barling, president of Britain's Competition Appeal Tribunal, accepted a government ruling that BSkyB must reduce its stake in ITV, a public network of British broadcasters set up to compete with the BBC.

Business Secretary John Hutton ordered the company to cut its holding to 7.5 percent earlier this year after an investigation by Britain's Competition Commission.

BSkyB, which is controlled by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., bought its stake in ITV in November 2006. Most analysts believe the move was a blocking maneuver to keep the shares out of the hands of rival NTL Inc.