BSkyB

The $9.1 billion sale of 21st Century Fox’s Italian and German units could have a wider impact on the media industry, giving Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox a cash influx to potentially revive its attempt to buy Time Warner.

LONDON — BSkyB, the London-headquartered satellite broadcaster, confirmed Monday that it is in early talks with 21st Century Fox to buy its pay television assets in Italy and Germany. A deal would create a pay-TV company with the power to sell services in three European territories. It would also allow Rupert Murdoch to consolidate his […]

BSkyB has extended its 24-year relationship with Walt Disney to create a new television channel which will show Disney films in Britain and Ireland. Sky Movies Disney will launch on March 28 and marks the first time entertainment group Walt Disney has ventured into a co-branded, traditional movie channel, the companies said in a statement on Thursday.

John Malone’s Liberty Global will avoid a battle with Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB over expensive content like English Premier League soccer, the U.S. company said after agreeing to buy BSkyB’s biggest rival, Virgin Media. Virgin had a strong commitment to share content with Sky, Liberty Global CEO Mike Fries said on Wednesday, and he wanted to make sure Virgin had access to premium programming.

Comcast is exploring whether the British Sky Broadcasting Group, Britain’s largest satellite broadcaster and a lucrative pay TV asset 39% owned by News Corp., could become available for purchase, according to several people briefed on the company’s strategic thinking.

A British parliamentary report into a phone hacking scandal may lead eventually to News Corp. being forced into cutting or selling its stake in the highly profitable pay-TV firm BSkyB, having already dropped its bid to buy it outright last year.

Murdoch is under pressure over his role in Britain’s tabloid phone hacking scandal and said in a letter to the board today that he was resigning so that “the interests of BSkyB should not be undermined by matters outside the scope of this company.” He will stay on as a member of the broadcaster’s board.

British Broadcaster BSkyB said Murdoch won the support of more than 81% of shareholders who voted, while nearly 19% voted against him at the company’s annual meeting Tuesday.

LONDON (AP) — British Sky Broadcasting PLC, in which Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has a large minority stake, saw its first quarter profits rise further as increasing sales of telephone and broadband packages offset a slowdown in new television subscriptions The company said Wednesday that profit on continuing operations in the three months to end-September […]

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has dropped its bid for control of BSkyB because of the phone hacking scandal that has consumed the company. “It has become clear that it is too difficult to progress in this climate,” Chase Carey, News Corp.’s COO, said. “News Corp. remains a committed long-term shareholder in BSkyB.”

Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said the government would vote with the opposition Labour Party on Wednesday to support a motion calling on Rupert Murdoch and his News Corp. to withdraw the $12 billion bid for highly profitable satellite broadcaster BSkyB.

The pressure on News Corp.’s boss Rupert Murdoch ratcheted up Monday after deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg urged him to “do the decent and sensible thing” and reconsider News Corp.’s bid for BSkyB.

In what could be a major blow to Rupert Murdoch’s $14 billion plan to buy U.K. satellilte company BSkyB, the British government said today that it has pushed back its review of the deal while it sorts through the implications of the News Of The World phone hacking scandal.

BSkyB, ITV and Channel 4 have joined U.S. broadcasters including ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC in successfully stopping London-based Internet video service FilmOn from showing their channels without permission.