BSKYB MAY DEAL COUP DE GRACE TO NETFLIX

In an apparent bid to land a preemptive strike against Netflix just as the online movie renter ramps up its service in the U.K., News Corp-controlled BSkyB said today (Tuesday) that it plans to launch an Internet version of its Sky Movies package. Customers will be be able to pay for a monthly subscription that [...]

NEWS CORP SETS ASIDE $155 MILLION FOR HACKING SETTLEMENTS

News International, the unit of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp that oversees his British news operations, has reportedly added £80 million ($124 million) to the kitty it had set up to settle invasion-of-privacy lawsuits arising from telephone hacking conducted by reporters and private investigators working for the now-defunct tabloid News of the World. The legal fund [...]

VOICEMAIL SCANDAL HITS NEWS CORP WHERE IT HURTS

The voicemail hacking scandal that shut down its News of the World tabloid in London has taken its toll on News Corp’s bottom line. The media conglomerate on Wednesday said in an SEC filing that while total revenue rose to $7.96 billion, its profits dropped 5 percent. At the center of its profit drain were [...]

NEWS CORP LAWYER TRIED TO THWART BBC HACKING PROBE

A lawyer representing News International, the News Corp unit in the U.K. that published the now defunct News of the World, accused the BBC last March of pursuing an investigation of claims that reporters at the tabloid were hacking into the voicemail of celebrities and politicians in order to undermine News Corp’s bid to acquire [...]

U.K. LAWMAKERS SEEK TO LOCK DOOR ON ANOTHER MURDOCH BID FOR BSKYB

Leaders of Britain’s opposition Labor Party are attempting to line up multipartisan support for a measure that would block News Corp from renewing its bid to acquire full ownership of BSkyB, the satellite broadcaster that it presently controls, Britain’s Guardian newspaper reported today (Monday). The new law would impose a public interest test on new [...]

BRITISH TV REGULATOR PROBES NEWS CORP HACKING

OFCOM, Britain’s equivalent to the FCC, has notified Parliament that it plans to look into the question of whether News Corp remains a “fit and proper” licensee for BSkyB. Noting that News Corp’s 39.1-percent stake in BSkyB gives it “material influence” over the company, the largest commercial broadcaster in Britain, OFCOM said it has been [...]

MURDOCH: NEWS CORP EXECS HANDLED SCANDAL “EXTREMELY WELL”

Rupert Murdoch on Thursday vigorously defended the way the News of the World hacking scandal had been handled by News Corp executives, including his son James, the deputy COO of News Corp, who announced the decision to shut down the 168-year-old publication and subsequently announced that the company was withdrawing its bid to acquire complete [...]

MURDOCH WITHDRAWS BSKYB BID

As the leaders of all three major political parties appeared to join forces in opposition to Rupert Murdoch’s bid to acquire complete ownership of BSkyB, Britain’s largest commercial broadcaster, Murdoch’s News Corporation today (Wednesday) suddenly withdrew its bid. In a statement, News Corp President and COO Chase Carey said, “We believed that the proposed acquisition [...]

PARLIAMENT SUMMONS MURDOCH

Rupert Murdoch, his son James, and Rebekah Brooks, head of News International, have received summonses to appear before Parliament’s Culture, Media and Sport committee next Tuesday. While their appearances are not mandatory, several analysts suggested that their refusal to appear could only exacerbate their continuing embarrassment over the News of the World hacking scandal. Rupert [...]

NEWS CORP SEES ITS STOCK SINK — AND THAT’S A GOOD THING

News Corp today did what several media analysts — and reportedly several of its own board members — have been urging it to do rather than buying the additional shares of BSkyB that it doesn’t already own: buy back its own stock instead. The company, which reportedly sits on a mountain of cash, announced plans [...]

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