Rupert Murdoch


Analysis: Will ITV get its way on UK retransmission fees?

ITV says the wider industry will back its aggressive to push to get the UK’s pay TV platforms to adopt a system similar to the US and pay to carry the territory’s terrestrial broadcasters, but analysts have suggested the fight will not be an easy one, reports Jesse Whittock. ITV CEO Adam Crozier was bullish […]

Bewkes sidesteps Fox questions

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes neatly sidestepped questions about why he walked away from a merger with 21st Century yesterday, while Rupert Murdoch has offered his opinions on the episode. In a conference call with investors, Bewkes declined to comment directly on the Fox proposal, “except to say that the board and our senior management […]

Murdoch drops $80bn Time Warner bid

21st Century Fox has dropped its bid for Time Warner, citing the negative impact it had on its share price and a lack of willingness on the part of the Time Warner board to explore the media mega-merger. Fox chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said the mooted US$80 billion merger offered a “unique” opportunity to […]

Sky confirms ‘Sky Europe’ merger

UK satcaster BSkyB has confirmed its takeover of European pay TV sister companies Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia. The agreement with 21st Century Fox will hand Sky 57.4% of the Germany business and 100% of Sky Italia. Sky will pay £2.9 billion (US$4.93 billion) in cash for Sky Deutschland and £2.45 billion for Sky Italia […]

Analysts predict Fox/Time Warner ‘bloodbath’

Analysts have warned of a “bloodbath” and rising pay TV costs for US consumers should 21st Century Fox’s mooted takeover of Time Warner go ahead, while also noting the combined entity’s ability to take on the likes of Netflix. Yesterday, CNBC broke news of the offer, which was tabled earlier this summer that, if accepted, […]

James Murdoch to keynote MIPCOM

21st Century Fox’s co-COO James Murdoch will deliver a keynote at MIPCOM in October. Murdoch, son of Fox chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, will address delegates at the Cannes confab on Monday, October 13, as part of the Media Mastermind Keynote interview series. Murdoch was promoted to his current role at media giant Fox earlier […]

Fox, Apollo plan Endemol, Shine, Core merger

21st Century Fox plans to create a joint venture with fund manager Apollo Global Management that would house a combined group of Endemol, Shine and CORE Media. Fox, Apollo plan to merge three major global production companies Move would bring Big Brother, MasterChef and Idol franchises together for first time No guarantee of deal, but […]

Talks underway to create ‘Sky Europe’ pay TV giant

BSkyB has confirmed it is in preliminary talks about acquiring 21st Century Fox’s 57% stake in Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia to create a pan-European pay TV giant. A deal involving all three companies would create a European pay TV powerhouse that would have considerable power in negotiating content deals, including sports rights. In a […]

James, Lachlan Murdoch land key Fox roles

Rupert Murdoch has handed his sons Lachlan and James key new roles within his entertainment media group 21st Century Fox. Lachlan Murdoch (left) has resigned from his role as chairman at Network Ten to become non-executive co-chairman of 21st Century Fox alongside his father, who is also CEO. He also takes the same role at […]

21st Century Fox to delist in Oz

Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox is delisting shares from the Australia Stock Exchange after regulators okayed the move. The company will stop trading on the ASX on May 1, with all Class A and Class B stock then trading on the NASDAQ in the US. Murdoch (left) split his businesses in two last year, with […]