BSkyB boss: 'I don't work for Rupert Murdoch, remember'
The boss of BSkyB isn't Rupert Murdoch despite what many might think. Today the UK broadcaster and telco reminded the world of that fact as it attempted to distance itself from the 81-year-old media mogul, who has been labelled by MPs as being "not fit" to run a multinational outfit. BSkyB - much as in the case of Virgin Media …
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Jump? How high Mr Murdoch Sir?
If you read Alan Sugars autobiography, in the section which covers the sale of Amstrad to Sky, it's strongly implied it was Murdoch Snr who pushed it through as a "thank you" for LordSurAluns support down the years.
Sky were initially not very interested.
Despite their protestations, when Murdoch says jump they ask how high.
Re: Jump? How high Mr Murdoch Sir?
"If you read Alan Sugars autobiography, in the section which covers the sale of Amstrad to Sky, it's strongly implied it was Murdoch Snr who pushed it through as a "thank you" for LordSurAluns support down the years"
Now that could explain why youview is late!
Yeah right.......
He only owns 39% of them, so he clearly has no influence whatsoever over them.
Paris, 'cos he clearly thinks we're all dumb blondes who'll believe any level of crap they spout.
(Before the blondes start shouting that they're not dumb, you are, OK?)
Mr Darroch
The very best of luck getting people to distinguish between your two companies. I'm reasonably well-informed on business matters (compared to the general population) but as far as I'm concerned News International == BSkyB.
You may be separate legal entities, but I think your reporting styles and corporate philosophies are remarkably similar...
I chose the shouty icon because that's all I hear/see when I have the misfortune to walk past a TV with your (ahem) news program broadcasting.
Re: Mr Darroch
Yet your unable to distinguish between News International and News Corporation?
NI is a tiny insignificant child company of News Corp, that was dying on its behind before any of this kicked off.
As the great Malcolm Tucker once said: "These are hard times for print journalists, I read that on the internet. One day your writing for the papers the next your fucking sleeping under them"
Anon as don't want the paps at my door asking for further comments :p
Re: Mr Darroch
And you're unable to distinguish between "you're" and "your".
Sorry, I know it's very pedantic, but it just annoys me more than it really should :-) Almost decided to use the troll icon for this post...
Your ire
The your / you're thing annoys me tremendously as well but I have to say that, after missing out the word 'not', it's the commonest error I make while typing (never used to do it when writing by hand).
Re: Mr Darroch
NI is a tiny insignificant child company of News Corp, that was dying on its behind before any of this kicked off.
No it wasn't "dying on its behind". It has always turned a substantial profit, albeit one that is slowly decreasing over time. The significance is that James Murdoch was head of NI and an exec at BSkyB. If his recollections are correct (and they have been disputed by many including Tom Crone and Colin Myler), then he is incompetent. If the recollections of almost all other direct participants are correct, then he is part of a cover up and as an American citizen (he has dual nationality) he is criminally liable for offences under US laws.
Yeah Yeah
You dont work for Murdoch, but you are in his pocket and he is your paymaster and will do his pimping whenever called upon.
Now dont go about protesting self-righteously.
yeah right
Yeah, when a single shareholder owns 39% of the firm you can bet he has more influence over the board than the other shareholders.
Not a Murdoch man? yeah right.
I was surprised at the outcry about the News Corp putative take over of Sky, I assumed that 99.9% of the population (based largely on press /media reporting) would think Murdoch owned it, with only the sort of people who read the media pages, follow media industry news etc. knowing otherwise.
The Grauniad certainly had a strong element of 'oh, no, Rupert Murdoch wants to take over Rupert Murdoch's Sky'.
'I don't work for Rupert Murdoch, remember'
I thought the refrain was "I don't remember!"
See Private Eye (passim), in particular the current issue's cover.
""
A single shareholder owns 39% of the firm >>and<< has several directors on the board of BSkyB.
Plus, aren't a great many of the non-Murdoch-owned shares in BSkyB non-voting shares? So even if you own a share and get the same RoI ratio as Murdoch you don't get the same control as Murdoch.
This would be BSkyB, where James Murdoch was CEO until 2007, and a non-executive director since then. And of course, James would never be acting in the interest of his father would he?
"We believe that Sky's track record as a broadcaster is the most important factor in determining our fitness to hold a licence."
Er, are you sure you don't want to rephrase that? Sky News isn't exactly known for top flight journalism is it?
Fitness to Broadcast - Crap Programmes
So Mr Darroch.. "We believe that Sky's track record as a broadcaster is the most important factor in determining our fitness to hold a licence."
So can OFCOM measure you on the crap programmes you produce then? It it wasn't for Roop's pockets and Sport, Sky would be nothing.
Re: Fitness to Broadcast - Crap Programmes
So can OFCOM measure you on the crap programmes you produce then? It it wasn't for Roop's pockets and Sport, Sky would be nothing.
Sky commissions / produces very little content outside of sports coverage. Most of their content is bought in from the US, particularly for drama and comedy. Sky news is a loss making division of BSkyB, which is why it was a bit of a joke that Roop offered to spin it off as an "arms length" entity if he succeeded in gaining total ownership. This was a joke both because it hived off the loss making part (making it easier to sell or shut down) and because all previous undertakings by Roop concerning editorial independence have been breached.
Forgetful Roop even claimed at the Leveson inquiry - under oath - that he does not interfere with editorial independence, since he's gone on record many time in the last thirty years stating he does dictate editorial policy. That's perjury.
Re: Fitness to Broadcast - Crap Programmes
Oh crap I might end up defending Sky here.
Most of their output is unmitigated shite, but Sky Arts is actually turning into an impressive channel which is commissioning stuff that the BBC and ITV used to produce.
Re: Fitness to Broadcast - Crap Programmes
I agree with Mike Richards - the Sky Arts channels are very, very good. The rest - rarely watch them because the content is so bland/rubbish.
Singular / Plural
"telcos, who are increasingly looking at upping sales .. rather than simply pursuing more punters with its products."
* their
Not yet, you mean
The whole point is that, once the other 61% are bought up, the BSkyB boss will be working for him!
So, if the BSkyB boss can be influenced as he is already with only 39%, he will soon be completely at Murdo's beck and call, i.e. 'within firing range' if he doesn't fit his bill ...
It's Monopoly, stupid!
How much???
ARPU - average revenue per user - of £546, 10 million subscribers.. so nearly £5½billion income in the UK alone. Wow.
,,makes you think, doesn't it.. what wonderful value the Beeb is in comparison :-)
The very thought of being a Sky customer makes me itch.
Dogs, fleas, laying down and all that.
Paris, since there's no fleas on *that* dog!
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