Skip to footer

Report: James Murdoch to step down from BSkyB

Sky, the news channel of BSkyB, said his resignation would be confirmed later Tuesday after an unscheduled board meeting.

|
Sang Tan/AP/File
James Murdoch gestures as he leaves his father's residence, in central London in 2011.
  • By Jill Lawless Associated Press

| LONDON

Media executive James Murdoch, under pressure over his role in Britain's tabloid phone hacking scandal, is stepping down as chairman of British Sky Broadcasting, the Sky News channel reported Tuesday,

Sky, the news channel of BSkyB, said his resignation would be confirmed later Tuesday after an unscheduled board meeting. It said James Murdoch would remain a board member and would be replaced as chairman by Nicholas Ferguson, the current deputy chairman.

News Corp., the global media empire of James' father Rupert, which owns 39 percent of BSkyB, had no comment. BSkyB did not immediately return calls.

Murdoch, one of his father's chief lieutenants, has been facing severe criticism as a result of the phone hacking scandal that brought down the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World tabloid in Britain.

In February, James Murdoch quit as chairman of News International, News Corp.'s British newspaper division. At the time, he indicated he was going to concentrate on managing parts of his father's extensive television businesses.

He has also stepped down from the boards of auctioneer Sotheby's and prominent pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline PLC but remains deputy chief operating officer of News Corp.

James Murdoch has repeatedly denied knowing about widespread phone hacking at the News of the World, although his account has been contradicted by former associates.

In a letter to British lawmakers last month, James Murdoch acknowledged that he could have done more to investigate wrongdoing at the tabloid but insisted he had been misled and given "false assurances" by subordinates.

Rupert Murdoch shut down the News of the World in July amid a wave of bad publicity and plummeting advertising revenue due to the hacking revelations.

News Corp. has been struggling to shake off the damage from the hacking furor, which derailed its plans to try to take charge of the remaining 61 percent of BSkyB in July.

James Murdoch had been widely thought to be the heir to his father's media empire, and the proposed takeover of BSkyB would have boosted his profile within the company, as well as giving News Corp. full control of a lucrative broadcaster with an extensive sports and news franchise.

James Murdoch was re-elected chairman of BSkyB in November despite a groundswell of opposition. BSkyB said Murdoch won the support of more than 81 percent of shareholders who voted, while nearly 19 percent voted against him at the company's annual meeting.

BSkyB shares were down more than 1 percent at 674 pence Tuesday afternoon.

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said BSkyB shares were falling because Murdoch's departure would "cause a bit more destabilization."

Hunter said Murdoch's resignation, if confirmed, would not necessarily indicate a waning of News Corp. commitment to the broadcaster. Hunter sees it as a personal issue for James Murdoch; "I wouldn't read anything more into it strategically."

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Report: James Murdoch to step down from BSkyB
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0403/Report-James-Murdoch-to-step-down-from-BSkyB
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe