MUMBAI: Decks have been cleared for Rupert Murdoch?s global media empire to be split into two companies with the high growth media & entertainment business being separated from the sluggish publishing business.

News Corporation?s Board authorised management to explore this separation after a Board meeting yesterday.

The move, aimed at increasing operational flexibility, will see creation of two distinctly public trading companies which would allow News Corp shareholders to hold interests in a publishing company, consisting of publishing assets and a new digital education group, and a global media and entertainment company.

Upon closing of the proposed transaction, Rupert Murdoch would serve as chairman of both companies and CEO of the media and entertainment company. Chase Carey would serve as President and COO of the media and entertainment company.

Over the next several months, the company will assemble management teams and Boards of Directors for both businesses, News Corp said in a statement.

Murdoch?s decision not to head the new publishing business has sparked speculation that he was setting the stage for the return of his eldest son Lachlan Murdoch to the company.

The separation is expected to be completed in approximately 12 months. Management is developing detailed plans for the Board?s further consideration and final approval. To execute the transaction requires further work on structure, management, governance, and other significant matters.

After receiving final approval of the Board of Directors, News Corporation will convene a special shareholder meeting to consider the transaction. This meeting is not expected to take place until the first half of calendar 2013.

"There is much work to be done, but our Board and I believe that this new corporate structure we are pursuing would accelerate News Corporation?s businesses to grow to new heights, and enable each company and its divisions to recognize their full potential - and unlock even greater long-term shareholder value," said News Corporation Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch.

"News Corporation?s 60-year heritage of developing world-class media brands has resulted in a large and unparalleled portfolio of diversified assets. We recognize that over the years, News Corporation?s broad collection of assets have become increasingly complex. We determined that creating this new structure would simplify operations and greater align strategic priorities, enabling each company to better deliver on our commitments to consumers across the globe.

I am 100 percent committed to the future of both the publishing and media and entertainment businesses and, if the Board ultimately approves a separation, I would serve as Chairman of both companies."

The proposed transaction would create global category leaders in both publishing and entertainment: a publishing company, which would consist of News Corporation?s newspapers and information businesses in the U.S., U.K., and Australia, the company?s leading book publishing brands, its integrated marketing services company, its digital education group, as well as its other assets in Australia; and a global media and entertainment company, which would encompass News Corporation?s broadcast and worldwide cable networks, leading film and television production studios, television stations and highly successful pay-TV businesses in Europe and India.

The new global media and entertainment company would consist of News Corporation?s highly-profitable cable and television assets, filmed entertainment, and direct satellite broadcasting businesses, including Fox Broadcasting, Twentieth Century Fox Film, Twentieth Century Fox Television, Fox Sports, Fox International Channels, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FX, Star, the National Geographic Channels, Shine Group, Fox Television Stations, BSkyB, Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland.

The publishing company includes brands like Dow Jones, The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones Newswires, HarperCollins, The New York Post, and The Daily, as well as offer the rich diversity of assets in Australia, including leading brands such as The Australian, The Herald Sun, The Daily Telegraph and The Courier Mail. In addition, the Company would include The Times, The Sun, The Sunday Times, as well as News Corporation?s integrated marketing services group and its ground-breaking digital education group, including Wireless Generation.

Upon closing of the proposed transaction, News Corporation?s shareholders would receive one share of common stock in the new company for each same class News Corporation share currently held. Following the separation, each company would maintain two classes of common stock: Class A Common and Class B Common Voting Shares.

In addition to shareholder approval, the completion of the separation will also be subject to receipt of regulatory approvals, opinions from tax counsel and favorable rulings from certain tax jurisdictions regarding the tax-free nature of the transaction to the Company and to its shareholders, further due diligence as appropriate, and the filing and effectiveness of appropriate filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

MUMBAI: ESPN International has entered into a cricket distribution agreement with ESPN Star Sports (ESS) for International Cricket Council (ICC) events and the Champions League Twenty20 for the Caribbean market, ESPN Caribbean and Maritime Media vice president Bernard Stewart announced.

The development comes in the wake of ESPN exiting the Asian market after selling its stake to News Corp in the Asian sports broadcasting joint venture ESPN Star Sports. Post the clearance of the stake sale, ESPN will be present in Asia through its digital media products.

The ICC agreement is a four-year deal from 2012 to 2015 and covers several ICC events, including the global showpiece of the cricket calendar, the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The distribution agreement covers terrestrial, cable, satellite and new media platform rights. ICC programming will be presented on two ESPN Caribbean television networks--ESPN Caribbean and ESPN 2 Caribbean-- and on ESPNPlay.com, the region?s recently launched broadband network for live sports programming.

The Champions League Twenty20 agreement extends ESPN?s current three-year deal by three more years covering 2013-2015. The agreement covers all of ESPN Caribbean?s media platforms including the two networks, ESPN Caribbean and ESPN 2 Caribbean, and ESPNPlay.com.

?We are delighted to again showcase talented cricketers from the West Indies who will play in the ICC World Twenty20 and the Champions League Twenty20 later this year, as well as the crown jewel of cricket ? the ICC Cricket World Cup ? in 2015,? Stewart said. ?Cricket is essential to our programming in the West Indies and has a dynamic following there. This long-term agreement reinforces our commitment to providing world-class cricket to Caribbean fans.?

ESPN Caribbean?s upcoming cricket coverage includes the ICC Under 19 Cricket World Cup in Tony Ireland Stadium, Townsville, Australia from 10-25 August; the ICC World Twenty 20 in Sri Lanka from 18 September-7 October; and the Champions League Twenty20 in October.

The Champions League Twenty20 brings the best club teams from top cricket playing nations, including the West Indies, Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa, together in one of the major cricket competitions worldwide. Organisers have announced that Pakistan and other nations will be added this year.

The winner of the Caribbean Twenty20 ? to which ESPN Caribbean holds the rights through 2013 ? will represent the West Indies in the CLT20. Trinidad and Tobago, the 2011 representative, will return this year.

?We have succeeded in securing some very significant long-term broadcast partnerships for the ICC events and we are very pleased to be working with ESPN to showcase an exciting calendar of ICC cricket events in this cricket market,? said ESS SVP corporate development & cricket rights Anurag Dahiya.

MUMBAI: BBC Worldwide has decided to carry out a major restructuring exercise that will come into effect from 1 October.

BBC Worldwide?s existing structure based around five global divisions, will now be reconfigured to geographic lines of management. Profit and loss ownership and primary commercial ccountability will move closer to its customers, across seven geographic regions: North America; UK;

Australia/New Zealand; Western Europe; Asia; Latin America; CEEMEA (Central and Eastern Europe; Middle East and Africa).

The aim: to further increase focus on international markets, enabling it to capture future growth opportunities around the world. At the same time, BBC Worldwide is creating new global roles to establish direction and consistency around content, editorial, brands, sales and digital.

As a fallout of the restructuring, Worldwide Networks and the Global BBC iPlayer president Jana Bennett has decided to leave BBC Worldwide later in the year.

Bennett said,?My time at BBC Worldwide has been exciting and stimulating. I am delighted to have grown the BBC?s international channel portfolio at a time when global markets are so highly
competitive and to have brought quality British programmes and events to new audiences around the world both through our worldwide networks and the Global BBC iPlayer pilot.

?This announcement about the new organisation of BBC Worldwide, with regions in future holding P&L responsibility, is an important step in securing the future growth of BBC Worldwide enabling it to compete more effectively in the global market and deliver increasing returns to the BBC. I was pleased to have played a significant role in the organisational design process and fully support the changes under John Smith?s leadership. However with the move of P&L responsibility under the new structure I feel this is a good moment for me to work outside BBC Worldwide.?

The increased focus on geographic markets will be balanced by global functions with a remit across all BBC Worldwide geographies and a close connection into BBC Worldwide?s parent, the BBC. These will be managed by three newly created areas of accountability across sales, brands and content globally:

• Chief Sales Officer will be responsible for global B2B customer relationships and fulfilment, including advertising sales, as well as ensuring best practice across the company in sales and deals, and management of global sales events such as BBC Worldwide Showcase.
• Chief Brands Officer will be responsible for the commercialisation of BBC Worldwide?s flagship channel and programme brands, and will have oversight of the company?s global marketing activity, as well as business development of new brands.
• BBC Worldwide is also creating a third area of accountability for Content. This area will drive the creative and commercial vision for BBC Worldwide?s content strategy and will cover BBC Worldwide?s content and IP acquisition activity, channels curation and editorial standards. Scoping the dimensions of this accountability will form part of the next stage of work on the organisational design.
   

In addition, a Consumer Digital group will hold responsibility for BBC Worldwide?s consumer digital businesses, including all features on BBC.com, other commercial websites, the Global BBC iPlayer, as well as the company?s global digital strategy for apps, games and VOD, under a Chief Digital Officer. All four positions outlined above will report to BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith.

The seven regions will report into four Presidents, all of whom will report to John Smith and sit on the BBC Worldwide Executive Committee.

Asia, Latin America and CEEMEA will form one grouping, under a High Growth Markets Group, enabling a single overview of investment opportunities across many of the world?s most rapidly growing markets, where BBC Worldwide intends to establish a major presence. UK and Australia/New Zealand, both English language markets, will also report into a single President, representing continuity for Australia/New Zealand.

Western Europe, where TV Sales and Distribution today forms the largest single part of BBC Worldwide?s business, will report to the Chief Sales Officer. US and Canada will continue to report into the President, BBC Worldwide North America.

The new structure has been agreed following several months of work, involving all of BBC Worldwide?s Executive Committee, many of BBC Worldwide?s Leadership Group and has been approved by the BBC Worldwide Board.

BBC Worldwide builds on the success it has achieved in recent years in the USA and Australasia, where increased market focus and autonomy have resulted in strong results, with headline sales growth of 21 and 29 per cent respectively since 2009/10.

BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith said, ?The new organisation is designed to help us capture untapped opportunities for high quality British content and BBC branded services across the world, in order to sustain our track record of strong growth into the future. It has been worked out over a number of months, with inputs from across the world, and throughout our company. I believe it will accelerate delivery of our global ambition, and help us drive future growth and returns to the BBC, supplementing the licence fee.?

Since becoming President of Worldwide Networks, Bennett has overseen the channels business, which is the biggest revenue generator for BBC Worldwide and will report further strong growth for the year just ended. She has overseen the introduction of 13 channel services, from New Zealand to Thailand, as well as the launch of channels into new markets for the first time, including Brazil and Taiwan. She has pioneered global programming events across BBC Worldwide?s own channels, with broadcasts such as the Royal Wedding, Sport Relief, as well as the London Calling season (timed to coincide with Queen Elizabeth?s Diamond Jubilee and the London Olympics), playing out across four continents simultaneously.

Bennett has been responsible for BBC Worldwide?s 33 owned and operated thematic channels across 100 countries in EMEA, Australasia, Asia and Latin America. Jana is also responsible for the Global BBC iPlayer which launched as a pilot in July 2011 and is now in 16 countries. She also has financial responsibility for BBC Worldwide?s 50 per cent interest in UKTV, the owner of 10 branded channels in the UK; and executive responsibility for BBC Worldwide?s business development strategy across all its business in Latin America.

Bennett will remain with BBC Worldwide for a few months in order to effect a full handover of her responsibilities and to complete a number of major commercial deals that BBC Worldwide CEO John Smith has asked her to oversee.

MUMBAI: The Ultimate Fighting Championship has partnered Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority to launch the first annual International Fight Week which will take from 3-7 July 2012.

International Fight Week is being positioned as being the ultimate week-long experience for UFC fans. The inaugural week-long celebration of the UFC will feature the largest ever gathering of fighters and unprecedented access to UFC stars and will cumulate with UFC 148: Silva vs Sonnen II.

The UFC and LVCVA have partnered to make the July fight event not just a Las Vegas tradition, but a signature sporting occasion which will draw fans from all over the globe to the fight capital of the world. This will become an annual tradition for the UFC in Las Vegas.

UFC president Dana White said, "For years the UFC has done a big Vegas show around the Fourth of July weekend and now we?ve made it a focal point in our calendar . For UFC 148, we?ve got fans coming in from all over the country, tons of people from Brazil and Canada and as far away as England, Japan and Australia to see this fight.

"Las Vegas is the UFC?s hometown. This is where our headquarters are this is where we are from and we?re proud to be contributing to the local economy. The first annual International Fight Week will be awesome, the fans are going to have a fight week experience better than anything they?ve ever had before, and each year we are going to build this thing to the point where every fan on the planet knows they have to come to Vegas for this July fight week at least once in their lives."

Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority president, CEO Rossi Ralenkotter said, "The UFC has evolved into a world-wide brand, generating interest from all over the globe. Las Vegas and UFC is a partnership of two great brands and International Fight Week will attract visitors from all over the world. There?s no better destination for a special event of this magnitude than Las Vegas."

Properties in Las Vegas that will be hosting UFC themed events during International Fight Week, include the MGM Grand, Mandalay Bay, the Palazzo, the Wynn, the Palms, the EA Sports Lounge at the Cosmopolitan, a Fremont Street experience at the D, Golden Nugget, Golden Gate and El Cortez.

MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch?s News Corp. is busy creating a global sports broadcasting powerhouse. Soon after buying out ESPN?s stake in Asian sports broadcasting joint venture ESPN Star Sports, it has now gobbled up James Packer?s stake in Fox Sports.

News Corp. has made a $1.99 billion bid for a complete takeover of Australian billionaire Packer?s Consolidated Media Holdings, which holds 50 per cent of Fox Sports and 25 per cent of Foxtel.

The proposal, subject to regulatory approvals from Australian authorities, will give News Corp?s Australian subsidiary News Limited a complete ownership of Fox Sports with a 50 per cent stake in pay TV operator Foxtel.

Foxtel is half owned by Australian telecom and media company Telstra Corporation, with Rupert Murdoch?s News Corporation and Consolidated Media each holding a 25 per cent stake. Fox Sports is an equal joint venture partnership between Consolidated Media and News Corp.

Packer, son of late Kerry Packer, executive chairman of Consolidated Media?s largest shareholder, said: "CPH welcomes News? proposal and looks forward to CMH and News working together to address the detailed terms and conditions. Subject to this CPH, considering the offer price of $3.50 per share to be fair, will support the Proposal in the absence of a superior cash offer."

The deal will give Packer the capital to build war chest for his capital intensive casino business. He owns stakes in casinos in Australia, London, Macau and Las Vegas.

News Corp also has big plans for the US market where it is planning to launch a national sports network on cable television to take on Walt Disney-owned network ESPN, the dominant player in that market.

The company is considering converting its action-sports network Fuel to the new channel that would compete not just with ESPN but also with NBC?s and CBS?s sports networks.

In Asia, it has already become the dominant pay TV operator with the acquisition of ESPN?s stake in ESS.

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