Shares in BSkyB drop by 2.4pc as European merger talks confirmed May 12, 2014 INVESTORS yesterday shunned Rupert Murdoch’s plans to create a new satellite TV giant in Europe, sending shares in BSkyB 2.4 per cent lower after the group confirmed it is in talks with 21st Century Fox to buy its stakes in Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia. The deal, which analysts say could be worth up to £8.8bn [...]
Bottom Line: Murdoch is a force to be reckoned with May 12, 2014 LAST FRIDAY I sat down and watched a TV programme, on a terrestrial channel, at the scheduled time. It felt like an occasion. Like much of the population, such is the choice of media offered now that conventional TV viewing feels like the last resort; attractive only once the Netflix sub, iPlayer catch-up and YouTube [...]
Check out these previous winners of the Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year award May 12, 2014 A distinct orange hue will be enveloping Claridge's this evening for the annual Veuve Clicquot Business Woman of the Year awards; gongs will be handed out, Veuve will be drunk. Thomas Cook’s Harriet Green is up against Mediacom’s Karen Blackett and retail doyenne Jane Shepherdson of Whistles for the top gong. The additional [...]
Sky Europe: A force to be reckoned with? May 12, 2014 With the news this morning that 21st Century Fox is in early stage talks with BSkyB, Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland to create a pan-European satellite TV network analysts have been weighing up what such a move would mean. “If approved the company would be a force to be reckoned with in Europe,” said CCS [...]
Brussels committee unveils five-year plan to save the EU May 12, 2014 The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has unveiled its plan to rescue the European Union. The EESC's Action Plan for Europe – Five years to save the Union, is nothing but ambitious in its goals. With just 31 per cent of European citizens saying they have trust in the EU, the EESC certainly has [...]
What you need to know before the open May 12, 2014 European markets are set to open lower this morning, following Asian counterparts, as investors await with caution for events in Ukraine to unfold. Yesterday, anti-Kiev rebels declared victory in a referendum on self-rule in eastern Ukraine. Western leaders are threatening further sanctions around energy and the financial services, if Moscow moves to disrupt the planned [...]
Market authority set to greenlight Sky Europe deal May 11, 2014 THE UK’s newly established Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) yesterday said it would likely greenlight a deal by Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox to consolidate its pay-TV European holdings were it to be approved by the EC. In 2010, European authorities approved News Corp’s bid to take full control of BSkyB. Murdoch is said to [...]
Carphone and Dixons to reveal £3.7bn merger May 11, 2014 DIXONS Retail, the owner of Currys and PC World, and Carphone Warehouse will this week announce the final terms of their proposed £3.7bn merger in a deal that is expected to create a new FTSE 100-sized business from the two high street technology retailers. The companies are understood be planning to unveil details of their [...]
Swift pipped at the post by Kittel May 11, 2014 CYCLING: Britain’s Ben Swift missed out on stage three of the Giro d’Italia in Dublin yesterday, losing by the width of a wheel to Germany’s Marcel Kittel. Swift, who rides for Team Sky, appeared set for victory until the final 20 yards of the race. Australia’s Michael Matthews maintains an overall lead going into stage [...]
BT lifts dividend as £2bn TV sport move pays off May 8, 2014 DEMAND for fibre broadband and television, driven by BT’s aggressive £2bn investment in sports content, led the telecoms giant to beat expectations in its full-year results yesterday and hike its dividend by 15 per cent to 10.9p. Chief executive Gavin Patterson promised BT would continue with its strategy of buying premium sports TV rights and [...]