Comcast offers $31 billion to buy Europe’s pay-TV giant Sky

Comcast on Tuesday made an unsolicited bid to buy Sky, the UK satellite TV provider, for $31 billion — potentially upsetting a bid from Fox to buy the 61 percent of the company it doesn’t already own.

The Comcast offer also challenges Disney’s deal in December to buy film and international assets from Twenty-first Century Fox — including its Sky stake — for $52 billion in stock.

Fox responded to Comcast’s bid by saying it’s sticking to its offer of December 2016 to buy Sky’s remaining shares — even though its proposed take-out price is 14 percent lower than Comcast’s bid.

Disney and Comcast both see Sky as a way to expand their international footprints as they gear up for heightened competition from Netflix and new players like Apple and Amazon.

Before Comcast made its bid for Sky, Disney hinted that it is more interested in Fox’s TV and movie content than it is in Fox’s 39 percent stake in Sky, a source told The Post.

The Mouse House is developing direct-to-consumer platforms for both sports programming — via its ESPN unit — and for movies and video, stuffing it with content produced by its TV and film studios.

Fox content is considered critical to filling those pipelines.

Several analysts, however, countered the industry source — saying Disney boss Bob Iger regards Sky as “a crown jewel” and will continue to fight for 100 percent of the pan-European broadcaster.

Many think a fully funded Comcast bid could set off a bidding war for the Sky asset.

Jefferies’ John Janedis said “the path of least resistance” would be for Disney to bid against Comcast for the Sky stake Fox doesn’t own, as that would reduce any issue UK regulators might have with Fox.

Sensing a bidding war, investors sent Sky’s shares up more than 20 percent for the day — 8 percent above Comcast’s bid price.