News Corp’s bid for BSkyB gets approval June 30, 2011 JEREMY Hunt finally waved through News Corp’s proposed bid for BSkyB yesterday after accepting a string of concessions over Sky News. The decision from the culture secretary (pictured) marks the end of a long period of negotiations between the media giant, Department of Culture officials, the Office of Fair Trading and Ofcom. The decision will [...]
BUSINESS OF THE YEAR June 29, 2011 MICROCHIPS, miners and media – not to mention Man and the master of temporary power supplies Aggreko. This year’s shortlist for Business of the Year crosses sectors, but the finalists share ambition, innovation and bold decision-taking. Old and new, none are resting on their laurels or copying the past: all are looking to the future. [...]
Sky directors expect News to pay more June 26, 2011 SOURCES close to BSkyB’s independent directors were last night calling for Rupert Murdoch to pay at least £9 per share to take full control of the satellite broadcaster. The same sources also indicated that a price of up to £10.40 a share, as called for by Crispin Odey, the founder of Odey Asset Management and [...]
FTSE tumbles to three-month closing low on energy worries June 23, 2011 MINERS and energy stocks were the worst hit members of Britain’s sharply lower FTSE 100 index yesterday, hit by heightened fears of a slowdown in global growth. The FTSE 100 ended down 98.61 points, or 1.7 per cent, at 5,674.38, its lowest close since 16 March when markets were plunging in the immediate aftermath of [...]
News Corp’s bid for Sky to get clearance June 22, 2011 CULTURE secretary Jeremy Hunt is likely to rubber stamp News Corp’s bid for BSkyB within a fortnight. He is expected to trigger a final seven day period of consultation after receiving documents from Ofcom outlining a series of guarantees over the future financial and editorial independence of Sky News. Hunt will be unable to issue [...]
MPs hit out at Orange June 21, 2011 EVERYTHING Everywhere, the joint venture between Orange and T-Mobile, faced criticism from MPs yesterday over profit it stands to book on the sale of radio waves. Orange, which acquired the spectrum for free in 1991, must now offload it as part of its merger agreement with Ofcom, with analysts estimating it is worth around £450m. [...]
Spectrum sale gets go-ahead June 20, 2011 Ofcom yesterday gave the go-ahead for mobile phone operators to trade the rights to the radio spectrum they hold. Ofcom says the new regulations are aimed at giving operators added flexibility, which could help them to meet the increasing demands for mobile internet. The changes have ben mooted for years but are understood to have [...]
Fight over spectrum intensifies June 12, 2011 Mobile phone operators have been warned not to derail the upcoming auction of radio waves allowing superfast next generation mobile internet. Rules published by communications watchdog Ofcom have angered some of the network providers, who believe they give an unfair bias to their rivals. O2 is the latest firm to complain, saying the rules could [...]
Ofcom to probe TV advertising sector June 10, 2011 Britain’s £4bn television advertising sector will be scrutinised by Ofcom over worries that limited competition is harming consumers. ITV, whose prime source of revenue is advertising, saw its shares fall by 1.6 per cent after Ofcom’s announcement. The three main concerns about the TV advertising sector are how clear pricing is, the way airtime is [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 9, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES THIRD INDEPENDENT DIRECTOR TO QUIT ENRC BOARD A third independent director is set to leave the board of FTSE 100 miner Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation, thrusting the London-listed Kazakh company further into turmoil. Two prominent City figures, Sir Richard Sykes and Ken Olisa, were ousted from ENRC on Wednesday. Now, according to two [...]