Presenting Exhibit KRM 18, submitted to the Leveson Inquiry (click pic for doc):
Hurry! You’ve already missed a lot of James Murdoch’s testimony about the BSkyB bid’s travels through the corridors of the British government. Click pic for feed:
Is it us, or is there not much reaction from BSkyB’s share price (down 0.66 per cent at pixel time, via Google Finance) to the imminent exit of its chairman, James Murdoch…
UK communications regulators have stepped up an investigation into whether BSkyB qualifies as ‘fit and proper’ to own a broadcasting licence, placing the stake owned by News Corp in further doubt, the FT says. Ofcom intensified its probe in January and will consider the status of both BSkyB chairman James Murdoch and News Corp, which holds a 39.1 per cent stake. Rupert Murdoch withdrew a planned bid for the rest of BSkyB last summer, in the depths of the phone hacking scandal. Read more
News Corp is facing a new wave of scrutiny of the fall-out from the News of the World scandal in the coming weeks, as new testimony to UK officials investigating phone hacking coincides with rising shareholder pressure on the US media group and its UK affiliate, British Sky Broadcasting, the FT reports. The House of Commons select committee investigating the scandal announced plans to interview Les Hinton, a former head of the group’s UK newspapers, on October 24. In July, this committee grilled Rupert Murdoch, News Corp’s chairman and chief executive officer, and his son James, News Corp’s deputy chief operating officer and BSkyB’s chairman. Meanwhile one of BSkyB’s leading shareholders has called for James Murdoch to resign as its chairman as investor concerns mount after the phone-hacking scandal at News International, the FT reports. “While we acknowledge the track record of Mr Murdoch, we think that at this point an independent chairman would be advisable,” said Peter Langerman, president and chief executive officer of Mutual Series, an investment team within Franklin Templeton Investments. Read more
James Murdoch has won unanimous support from the British Sky Broadcasting board to remain as chairman, but at least two non-executive directors are expected to step down, a person familiar with the situation told the FT on Thursday. The phone-hacking scandal threatened to flare up again on Thursday with claims by the Guardian that the News of the World hacked the phone of Sara Payne, who became the focus of a campaign for tougher laws on sex offenders after her eight-year-old daughter Sarah was abducted and murdered. Read more
The value of the Murdoch family’s shareholding in News Corp has fallen by $1bn since the political firestorm erupted over the phone-hacking scandal at the News of the World, writes the FT. A 4.3 per cent slide in News Corp’s shares on Monday to $14.97 in New York left them down 17.4 per cent, or $8.3bn, since July 4, when news broke of the Millie Dowler hacking. The share fall came as Rupert Murdoch, News Corp chairman, and his son James braced for what looked likely to be a bruising appearance before a UK parliamentary committee on Tuesday. James’ BSkyB role is being increasingly questioned by investors, says Reuters. Read more
You’ve heard of good banks, bad banks, and toxic assets.
What about a good, bad and a toxic News Corporation? Read more
News Corp has made only “minor mistakes” and handled “extremely well” the crisis that has forced the closure of the News of the World and scuppered its BSkyB bid, Rupert Murdoch told the WSJ, which he owns. The FT reports News Corp chairman and chief executive’s first extended comments on the tabloid scandal came as the Federal Bureau of Investigation opened a probe into a claim that the News of the World may have sought access to messages on phones belonging to victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11 2001. Meanwhile Reuters says the Daily Mail & General Trust plans to launch a Sunday newspaper to fill the gap left by News of the World’s closure. Read more
Rupert Murdoch has bowed to intense political pressure and withdrawn News Corp’s planned bid to take full control of British Sky Broadcasting, after the company admitted public condemnation of phone hacking at his UK newspapers made the climate “too difficult,” the FT says. The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, says James Murdoch wanted to press ahead seeking regulatory approval for the bid, but was overruled by his father and News’ chief operating officer, Chase Carey. The report says Rupert Murdoch hopes to pursue the bid at a later date. The Guardian adds that News Corp’s current 39 per cent stake in BSkyB could also still be at risk from the “fit and proper” test for ownership being conducted by regulator Ofcom. Read more
News Corp shares rose after Rupert Murdoch bowed to intense political pressure and withdrew News Corp’s planned bid to take full control of British Sky Broadcasting, the FT reports. The shares rose 3.78 per cent to $15.93 in New York as investors hoped the move would help end the political backlash. BSkyB closed up around 2 per cent. The decision curtails his ambitions to consolidate his pay-television empire in Europe. The NYT, citing unnamed sources, says James Murdoch wanted to press ahead seeking regulatory approval for the bid, but was overruled by his father and News’ chief operating officer, Chase Carey. The report says Rupert Murdoch hopes to pursue the bid at a later date. Read more
Rupert Murdoch has bowed to intense political pressure and withdrawn News Corp’s planned £8.3n bid to take full control of British Sky Broadcasting, after his media group admitted public condemnation of phone hacking made the climate “too difficult”. The decision to abandon the 13-month pursuit of the UK’s most valuable commercial broadcaster means the phone-hacking scandal has forced Mr Murdoch not only to close the News of the World, but also to curtail his ambitions to consolidate his pay-television empire in Europe, says the FT.
… says, er. Sky News.
RTRS-NEWS CORP <NWSA.O> TO WITHDRAW BID FOR BSKYB <BSY.L>-SKY NEWS Read more
Rupert Murdoch has taken action to prop up the News Corp share price.
News Corp’s loss of $7bn in market value over four trading days shows investor concerns that a probe into alleged phone hacking by journalists at one London newspaper could have a broader impact on the company, according to Bloomberg. The slide is far out of proportion with the lost profits from closing the News of the World tabloid or from delaying the acquisition of tBritish Sky Broadcasting Group, some analysts say. Rupert Murdoch desperately tried to keep alive his bid to take full control of BSkyB on Monday, the FT says, as his company was hit by fresh allegations his newspapers accessed the family health records and bank accounts of Gordon Brown when chancellor and prime minister. Meanwhile Reuters says that legal experts believed News Corp could become the subject of a bribery probe in the US, pointing to the Obama administration’s stepping up of bribery law enforcement in the past two years. Read more
… please help rid me of this wretched BSkyB buyout.
Les Hinton, chief executive of Dow Jones, is being blamed by people close to News Corp, for failing to get to grips with the News of the World phone hacking scandal when he was in charge of Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspaper group, the FT reports. Hinton could become the most senior casualty of the crisis, deflecting blame from James Murdoch and Rebekah Brooks. According to The Guardian, Hinton was among five News International executives who had access to the News of the World’s 2007 internal inquiry on hacking. Seperately, the FT says UK prime minister David Cameron is trying to find a way to delay News Corp’s takeover of British Sky Broadcasting in light of the hacking scandal. Read more
Shares in BSkyB down around 4 per cent-plus at pixel time. Is there an arbitrage trader left in this thing?
There goes BSkyb straight through 800 pence to as low as 775p:
Next stop 800 pence?
For the first time in the News of the World phone hacking scandal the share price of the mother ship is under pressure.
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