Murdoch becomes chairman of the board of Sky again
At the British pay-TV group Sky, the Murdoch family’s influence is on the rise again. James Murdoch, son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, will once again head the board of directors, the company announced Friday in London.
Murdoch replaces Nick Ferguson, who will step down at the end of April. The Murdoch family's media empire owns around 39 percent of Sky. James Murdoch had already chaired the Board of Directors until 2012.
Meanwhile, the British group's turnover in the first half of the financial year (to the end of December) rose by five percent to 5.7 billion pounds (8.3 billion Swiss francs) after adjusting for currency effects. The operating result increased by 12 percent to 747 million pounds. Sky gained 337,000 new customers in the second quarter, bringing the total to 21 million. The Group is active in five European countries and also acquired Sky Germany and Sky Italy in the last financial year. The broadcaster is battling competition for feature films and series from new providers such as Netflix and Amazon, among others. (SDA)
