The Newsroom

News International and BSkyB

The future. (July 2011)

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JC
JCB
Brekkie posted:
They may have withdrawn the bid to own 100%, but I wouldn't be surprised if they sneak up to over 50%.


I doubt it. With the way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if they're eventually forced to give up the stake they have.
IS
Inspector Sands
Brekkie posted:
They may have withdrawn the bid to own 100%, but I wouldn't be surprised if they sneak up to over 50%.

I'm not sure what advantage that would give them, nowhere near as much as owning it outright.

The line from News Corp is that they'll spend the money on other acquisitions elsewhere

JCB posted:
I doubt it. With the way things are going I wouldn't be surprised if they're eventually forced to give up the stake they have.

One way or another that could happen - either through regulatory or shareholder pressure.
Last edited by Inspector Sands on 13 July 2011 8:10pm
JA
JAS84
Lee M posted:
JAS84 posted:
Brekkie posted:
If anything I think this might work to News Internationals advantage. If they're willing to shut down the News of the World they might be just as willing to get rid of The Sun and The Times to get their hands on Sky, removing a major barrier and allowing them to keep Sky News. Plus the BSkyB share price dropping works in their favour too.
Who would buy them? I'm sure Mirror Group, Express Group, and Associated Newspapers would love to see the removal of a major rival. But none of them would buy both the Sun and the Times, as it would mean competing with themselves (the Mirror already has the Sunday Mirror and The People, and the People suffers for it - wouldn't surprise me if it's the next paper to fall - Express Group owns the Star as well as the Express, and Associated owns the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday). They'd all rather that their readers moved to the titles they already own.


If Murdoch were forced to choose between some/all of the News International papers and BSkyB, he would choose BSkyB. It generates massive profits, whereas only The Sun and (until now) the News of the World papers were in profit, and some of their profits were used to subsidise The Times and the Sunday Times which are loss making.

They could almost certainly find a buyer for The Sun with ease, but The Times and the Sunday Times are another matter. As they do not generate profit, it will be extremely interesting to see if there is anyone or any company out there that has the ability to subsidise those papers at a loss like News International has been able to thanks to the profits of The Sun/News of the World. Unlikely, and in that case, if the Competition Commission doesn't let them keep the News International papers to get BSkyB, even if there are no buyers for some or all of them, there is a good chance it will result in the closure of both The Times and the Sunday Times.
Fair points... but moot now, as they've chosen NOT to take over Sky after all. So the competition problem is no longer an issue - they have bigger things to worry about.
DV
DVB Cornwall
Thinking .............

Has BskyB become a 'toxic' brand in this process, could a rename be on the cards?
IS
Inspector Sands
DVB Cornwall posted:
Thinking .............
Has BskyB become a 'toxic' brand in this process, could a rename be on the cards?

I don't think BSkyB or Sky has been tarnished at all. 'Sky' is too big a name to get rid of, I've never quite understood why 'BSkyB' was retained this long after the reason for the 2 B's has long disappeared
NW
nwtv2003
Inspector Sands posted:
DVB Cornwall posted:
Thinking .............
Has BskyB become a 'toxic' brand in this process, could a rename be on the cards?

I don't think BSkyB or Sky has been tarnished at all. 'Sky' is too big a name to get rid of, I've never quite understood why 'BSkyB' was retained this long after the reason for the 2 B's has long disappeared


I would have thought the only reason is to make the company look distinctive on the stock lists, as although there may only be on Sky in TV land, surely there's a number of companies called Sky in their titles.
NG
noggin Founding member
Inspector Sands posted:
DVB Cornwall posted:
Thinking .............
Has BskyB become a 'toxic' brand in this process, could a rename be on the cards?

I don't think BSkyB or Sky has been tarnished at all. 'Sky' is too big a name to get rid of, I've never quite understood why 'BSkyB' was retained this long after the reason for the 2 B's has long disappeared


I wonder if the non-News Corp shareholders wanted to ensure it isn't seen as 'old' Sky and 100% News Corp owned? Or it may have been something to do with the BSB takeover (or 'merger') that is still relevant in corporate terms. After all - in marketing and day-to-day life it is simply "Sky" still.

The Sky brand is pretty huge - with Sky Deutschland (formerly Premiere) and Sky Italia in Europe, and Sky also having market presence in Australia, New Zealand etc.

I think the Sky and BSkyB brands, so far, have managed to be distanced from the tarnishing aspects of the story, if not distanced from the story itself. Certainly there has been no suggestion that Sky News have been involved in similar dodgy dealings to some of their News International 'colleagues'. (Though 'Sky Sources' recently may have been releasing information in a timely fashion?)
MW
Mike W
BSkyB is on eBay
MA
Markymark
Mike W posted:
BSkyB is on eBay


Ha !

So it is (or is at time of posting this !!! )

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BSkyB-Re-listed-Due-Time-Waster-/230646778819?pt=UK_B_I_Business_for_Sale_CV&hash=item35b39e8bc3
WW
WW Update
noggin posted:

The Sky brand is pretty huge - with Sky Deutschland (formerly Premiere) and Sky Italia in Europe, and Sky also having market presence in Australia, New Zealand etc.


Just so there's no misunderstanding: New Zealand's Sky pay-TV platform is totally unrelated to the European Sky services and to Murdoch:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_Network_Television

However, the New Zealand version of Sky News is part-owned by BSkyB.
GS
Gavin Scott Founding member
Inspector Sands posted:
DVB Cornwall posted:
Thinking .............
Has BskyB become a 'toxic' brand in this process, could a rename be on the cards?

I don't think BSkyB or Sky has been tarnished at all. 'Sky' is too big a name to get rid of, I've never quite understood why 'BSkyB' was retained this long after the reason for the 2 B's has long disappeared


Wasn't the amalgamated name a permanent condition of the takeover?

I'm sure Sky didn't want to have it at all, but that was the price for stealing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back in the day...
IS
Inspector Sands
Gavin Scott posted:

Wasn't the amalgamated name a permanent condition of the takeover?

It would have been a condition but a permanant one can't really be enforced now.

Quote:
I'm sure Sky didn't want to have it at all, but that was the price for stealing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back in the day...

and Richard Keys

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