Cable asks regulator to probe News Corp’s offer for BSkyB November 4, 2010 Business Secretary Vince Cable has asked the country’s communications regulator to look at whether News Corp’s proposed offer for BSkyB may be against the public interest. News Corp, led by Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch, is proposing to buy the 61 per cent of the satellite broadcaster it does not already own for £7.8BN to consolidate [...]
EU will probe News Corp’s bid for BSkyB November 3, 2010 NEWS Corp has officially notified the European Commission about its intention to take full control of BSkyB. Business secretary Vince Cable will now be among those who decide whether the £8bn buyout will be allowed to go ahead. The Commission now has 25 working days to conduct an initial probe, after which it can launch [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 2, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES ITV BLAMES REGIME FOR NEED TO CHASE RATINGS ITV could invest more in arts, factual programming and drama were it not for regulations, its managers told a Lords committee. Archie Norman, chairman of the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, and Adam Crozier, chief executive, told the communications committee that ITV had been driven into [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 2, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES ITV BLAMES REGIME FOR NEED TO CHASE RATINGS ITV could invest more in arts, factual programming and drama were it not for regulations, its managers told a Lords committee. Archie Norman, chairman of the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster, and Adam Crozier, chief executive, told the communications committee that ITV had been driven into [...]
Broadcasting offers traders the chance for a big challenge October 25, 2010 UK BROADCAST media has seen its earnings growth increase by 50 per cent this year. This outperforms other areas of the sector that have experienced steady, if unspectacular, growth. With the sector rated as undervalued by Numis and the industry experiencing rapid changes, taking a punt on the prospects for one of the big players [...]
YouView gets green light from Ofcom October 19, 2010 OFCOM has effectively given the green light to a controversial video-on-demand service backed by the BBC after declining to launch a competition investigation. The YouView service – previously codenamed “Project Canvas” – is now due to launch by March next year. The platform will allow users to stream on demand content from a number of [...]
Ex-MPC member Barker takes private equity role October 17, 2010 FORMER Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Kate Barker has snapped up her second high-profile corporate appointment in just a few weeks, having agreed to take up a role as a non-executive director on the board of Electra Private Equity. Electra, which has investments in household names such as insurer Esure and feminine hygiene [...]
Government wields axe on nearly 200 quangos and plans to merge many others October 14, 2010 ALMOST 200 quangos face the axe as part of government proposals to save millions of pounds while a further 481 face reform, the Cabinet office revealed yesterday. The closures will lead to thousands of job losses and are likely to create a substantial redundancy bill for the government, although it claimed yesterday in the long [...]
BT must give access to its fibre network October 7, 2010 OFCOM yesterday said it will force BT to allow its rivals access to the former state phone firm’s superfast fibre broadband network. BT will also have to wholesale its infrastructure of telegraph poles and underground ducts in a bid to increase competition for superfast internet to rural areas. The decision supports government plans laid out [...]
CITY MOVES | WHO’S SWITCHING JOBS September 29, 2010 Tullett Prebon The inter-dealer broker has re-hired Tory MP Michael Fallon as a non-executive director, just a few months after he resigned to pursue an unsuccessful campaign for the Treasury Select Committee chairmanship. Fallon, who lost out to Andrew Tyrie, rejoins Tullett a week after he replaced Lord Ashcroft as deputy chair of the Conservative [...]