Rupert Murdoch has failed to gain full control of Sky after Comcast beat Fox with a £30bn bid for the broadcaster.

The US telecommunications giant won out in a day-long auction overseen by Britain's Takeover Panel on Saturday.

After the maximum three rounds of bidding, Comcast offered £17.28 per share compared to 21st Century Fox's £15.67 per share for the 61 per cent of the company it does not already own.

Comcast owns NBC Universal and is the largest cable operator in the US.

With the Sky takeover, Comcast will become the biggest pay TV provider in the world, with around 52 million customers after adding Sky's 23 million subscribers.

Brian Roberts, chairman and chief executive of Comcast, said: "This is a great day for Comcast.

"Sky is a wonderful company with a great platform, tremendous brand and accomplished management team.

"This acquisition will allow us to quickly, efficiently and meaningfully increase our customer base and expand internationally.

"We couldn't be more excited by the opportunities in front of us. We now encourage Sky shareholders to accept our offer, which we look forward to completing before the end of October 2018."

Sky's independent directors have unanimously recommended that Sky shareholders immediately accept the Comcast offer.

Jeremy Darroch, Sky chief executive, said: "This is the beginning of the next exciting chapter for Sky. Brian and his team have built a great business and we are looking forward to bringing our two companies together for the benefit of our customers and colleagues.

"As part of a broader Comcast we believe we will be able to continue to grow and strengthen our position as Europe's leading direct to consumer media company.

"Today's outcome is down to the hard work of tens of thousands of people who have built and developed this business together over the last 30 years. Sky has never stood still, and with Comcast our momentum will only increase."

Mr Murdoch made an £8bn swoop for Sky in 2011 but his plans were derailed by the phone hacking scandal that engulfed his empire.

Former culture secretary Matt Hancock said in May this year that he would only allow Fox to take full control of Sky if Sky News was sold off to ensure adequate media plurality.

Fox has since agreed to sell a major chunk of its business – including its existing 39 per cent Sky stake – to US entertainment behemoth Walt Disney.

Had Fox won the battle to buy Sky before the Disney deal closes, then Disney would have taken ownership of Sky when it closes its own takeover of the Fox assets.

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Fox faced heavy scrutiny from the UK government and competition watchdogs over its Sky takeover plans, while Comcast's bid was cleared by regulators early in the process.

It is rare for the panel to run auctions in takeover situations, with Tata's victory in acquiring UK steelmaker Corus in 2008 one of just a few in the past decade.

Comcast had originally tabled a £26bn, £14.75 a share bid for Sky, while Fox's offer valued it at £24.5bn at £14 a share.

But Comcast's final winning bid on Saturday – which gives Sky an enterprise value of over £30 billion – dwarfed Fox's.