A small media watchdog has sent shockwaves throughout the German media community by announcing Axel Springer -- the publisher of the tabloid Bild, Germany's most read paper -- should not be allowed to buy ProSiebenSat.1 because it would concentrate too much of the country's media under the control of a single company.

Springer agreed to purchase the popular television broadcaster last fall from US media mogul Haim Saban for €2.5 billion ($3 billion), but Germany's KEK put its proverbial foot down on Tuesday evening. The KEK is a regulator set up by Germany's federal states with the mandate to supervise the concentration of the country's media sector. It has had a very low profile until it decided to try and torpedo the blockbuster deal. Its opposition is less damning than a rejection of the bid by Germany's Federal Cartel Office -- which will decide by Jan. 20 -- would be.

Springer late Wednesday said it was considering selling ProSieben and holding on to the other channels Sat.1, Kabel1 and N24 in an effort to save its bid. However, the KEK decision has set off a firestorm of protest from German politicians, who are concerned about the possibility of foreign investors invading the country's broadcast industry.

Markus Söder, the secretary-general of the conservative Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) party said he would have preferred a "national solution" and that the jobs were at risk by blocking the deal. "The KEK is blocking Germany's media standing," he said. Politicians on the left were also concerned on Wednesday that some unsavory foreign types could somehow spoil Germany via the broadcaster. "If Springer fails then there will be giant corporations from the likes of Rupert Murdoch or Silvio Berlusconi lined up in front of our door," said Fritz Rudolf Körper, the Social Democrats deputy parliamentary floor leader.

That borderline business xenophobia is, of course, nothing new in Germany. Saban was widely demonized when he bought ProSieben two years ago from the bankrupt Munich-based KirchMedia empire. But apparently fears of Springer -- which has long been Germany's most influential right-wing voice -- topped those of international media bogeymen.

So some observers here are speculating that opposition to Springer's plans to expand into TV were at least partially based on elitist disdain for the rather populist editorial direction of Bild. The tabloid is by far the most read daily newspaper in Germany, which is why the KEK apparently felt Springer would gain undue influence on the country's media scene.