Murdoch survives as BSkyB chairman
No official announcement has been made, but insiders say the News Corp heir-apparent has won a reprieve.
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There is still no official word from the BSkyB board meeting held Thursday (Friday NZ time) but Reuters, quoting two un-named insiders, is reporting that James Murdoch has been unanimously confirmed as chairman.
The reprieve is the first piece of good news for the News Corp. heir apparent since the phone hacking scandal broke on July 8.
The News Corp third-in-command has drawn criticism for handling of the crisis in some quarters, and for his meandering responses during a grilling by UK MPs (including a scathing New York Times assessment of his "frozen" reaction after a cream pie-wielding assailant attacked his father, Rupert Murdoch, while Wendi Deng-Murdoch immediately volleyed to her husband's defence).
News Corp abandoned its bid to take majority control of BSkyB in the wake of the phone hacking scandal.
The move was not enough to shut down the scandal, however. In the wake of the phone hacking affair, British regulator Ofcom is now investigating whether News Corp is a "fit and proper" party to hold a stake in a company with a broadcasting license.
News Corp shares [NAS:NWS] were up up 0.18% to $US16.59 in mid-day US trading. The stock was trading close to $US19 before the scandal broke. It has traded as low as $US15.40 since July 8.
Bloomberg and others have carried speculation that News Corp may be trading at a discount of up to 50% because of investor frustration with the Murdoch family's control of the company.
But at BSkyB, at least, it seems the board is happy to leave a Murdoch at the reins.
NBR staff
Fri, 29 Jul 2011
Fri, 29 Jul 2011
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Murdoch survives as BSkyB chairman
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