BSkyB

News Byte

James Murdoch Stepping Down as BSkyB Chairman

Peter Kafka in Media on April 3 at 5:28 am PT

More fallout from PhoneGate: News Corp. executive James Murdoch is stepping down as chair of British Sky Broadcasting, the U.K. satellite TV company, according to a report from BSkyB’s news service. Both Murdoch and News Corp., which owns 39 percent of BSkyB, continue to be embroiled in the phone-hacking scandal that erupted last summer. News Corp. also owns Dow Jones, which owns this Web site.

News Byte

Investors Bailing on News Corp.’s BSkyB Deal

Peter Kafka in Media on July 11, 2011 at 3:14 am PT

British politicians are signaling that News Corp.’s $12 billion BSkyB deal is in even more trouble because of phonegate, and investors are getting the hint. They’ve driven the stock of the satellite TV company down to the 700 pence level — the same price News Corp. offered for the company last summer. BSkyB traded as high as 850 pence this summer, when investors thought News Corp. would raise its bid for the 61 percent of the company it didn’t already own. (News Corp. also owns this Web site.)

News Byte

More Pressure on News Corp.’s BSkyB Deal

Peter Kafka in Media on July 8, 2011 at 5:05 am PT

More evidence that Rupert Murdoch’s $12 billion BSkyB deal has been roughed up by the phonegate/hackergate scandal: A British government office says approval for the transaction will now take “some time,” a sentiment echoed by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron. Cameron also told reporters that News Corp. executive Rebekah Brooks should have stepped down. A response from News Corp., which also owns this Web site, “notes today’s comments by the Prime Minister,” and says the company wants to work with “the existing regulatory process.”

News Byte

BSkyB Challenges Skype Trademark

Voices in News on August 10, 2010 at 12:38 pm PT

Tucked into Skype’s IPO filing Monday was a listing of challenges to its trademark applications around the world, and it turns out that News Corp.’s British Sky Broadcasting, known as BSkyB and marketed as Sky, has a problem with 60 percent of the letters in the Internet telephony pioneer’s “bubble” logo. “The key contention in the dispute is that the brands ‘Sky’ and ‘Skype’ will be considered confusingly similar by members of the public,” a BSkyB spokesman said. “This was supported by consumer research conducted by Sky.” The EU recently ruled in BSkyB’s favor over the logo, and Skype plans to appeal. Notes TechEye.net: “As far as we know BSkyB is not filing any legal action against the Isle of Skye.”