Rupert Murdoch’s $580m bid for New York’s Newsday, the Long Island tabloid, puts the News Corp chief executive on a risky collision course with the Federal Communications Commission.

The media regulator would not have the power to interfere in the potential acquisition of the newspaper, which is now the subject of a bidding war between News Corp and Mortimer Zuckerman, owner of the rival Daily News. But, if he is successful, the deal will almost certainly create a regulatory problem for Mr Murdoch in the future.