MUMBAI: Delivering a speech at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Elisabeth Murdoch made a push for the media industry to embrace morality, while stressing that profit without purpose would be a recipe for disaster.

This contradicted her brother James Murdoch?s stand three years ago who at the same event had said that profit was the only guarantee of independence. "James was right that if you remove profit, then independence is massively challenged but I think that he left something out: The reason his statement sat so uncomfortably is that profit without purpose is a recipe for disaster," said Elisabeth Murdoch.

?As an industry?and indeed I would say as a global society?we have become trapped in our own rhetoric. We need to learn how to be comfortable with articulating purpose and reject the idea that money is the only effective measure of all things or that the free market is the only sorting mechanism.?

She also unlike her brother supported the BBC. James Murdoch had taken aim at the UK pubcaster for its guaranteed and growing income from the license fee paid by UK TV owners. But Elisabeth Murdoch said, "Let me put it on record that I am a current supporter of the BBC?s universal license fee".

Addressing the phone hacking issue which led to the closure of News Of the World, she said that she had told James to step back and that Rebekah Brooks should resign. "It was said within closed walls and Rebekah did resign."

?News Corp is a company that is currently asking itself some very significant and difficult questions about how some behaviours fell so far short of its values. Personally, I believe one of the biggest lessons of the past year has been the need for any organisation to discuss, affirm and institutionalise a rigorous set of values based on an explicit statement of purpose.?

She also said that she does not want to succeed her father at the company.

MUMBAI: British Member of Parliament and senior Labour politician Harriet Harman has launched a frontal attack on media baron Rupert Murdoch calling on Britian?s political class to forge unity to break up the Murdoch family?s media empire.

The MP also called for setting tighter limits for media ownership once Lord Justice Leveson?s report into press standards is published in order to limit Murdoch?s power saying that the "we can?t wind up leaving the problem of media ownership untouched".

Harman?s comments came as Murdoch?s daughter Elisabeth was preparing to deliver the MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh International Television festival.

Incidentally, Rupert Murdoch?s younger son James Murdoch?s MacTaggart Lecture in 2009 when he criticised the BBC and Ofcom for undermining free market.

It shows the influence of one family that two members within three years get to deliver this lecture," Harnan lamented.

She said News Corp, the owner of The Times and The Sun, with a 37 per cent market share owned too much of the media for a single publisher.

News Corp?s UK assets include News International the publisher of The Sun and The Sunday Times, British Sky Broadcasting where it holds 39.1 per cent and British broadcast television network ITV where he has 7.5 per cent interest.

MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch-owned News Corporation plans to split the business into two verticals separating film & television from its publishing business.

Although the final decision has not been taken, it is believed that News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch, who in the past resisted calls for split in the business, has warmed up to the idea.

The move comes in the background of phone hacking scandal at the company?s UK publishing business which led to the closure of News of the World tabloid and reorganisation of the top level with James Murdoch stepping down from the News International board. 

The scandal, which is being probed by local authorities, prompted News Corp. to abandon plans to increase its shareholding in UK?s BSkyB, in which it holds 39 per cent stake.

UK?s media watchdog Ofcom is also investigating whether James Murdoch, who had to resign from BSkyB board in April, is ?fit and proper? person to hold broadcasting license.

News Corp?s film and entertainment business includes Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, Star Television, Fox Broadcasting Company, BSkyB and 20th Century Fox. 

The group?s publishing assets include The Wall Street Journal, the Times of London and the Australian newspaper, as well as HarperCollins, the book publishing company which has a joint venture with India Today Group for the Indian market.

The move, if fructifies, will not change Murdoch family?s control of the two businesses. The family exercises effective control over the company through 40 per cent voting stake.

The conglomerate?s outside investors are believed to be in favour of a split more so since television and film assets contribute three-quarters of the $25.34 billion in revenue for the first nine months of the fiscal year.

News Corp.?s chief operating officer Chase Carey, who is believed to be a key proponent of spinning off publishing biz, had in May said that the management and the board had discussed the idea but didn?t have plans to pursue it. 

MUMBAI: The Walt Disney Company and News Corporation have decided to call off their Asian sports broadcasting joint venture ESPN Star Sports 16 years after it was formed on the premise of exploiting opportunities together in a market that was in its infancy.

The two companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which a unit of News Corp will buy ESPN?s 50 per cent equity interest in ESS, which operates 25 television networks and three broadband networks covering 24 markets in Asia, gaining full control of the sports broadcasting entity. Disney, a powerful sports powerhouse in the US, will exit from sports in Asia.

The transaction will allow News Corp units to own and operate all of the ESS businesses while providing ESPN more independence and flexibility in future support of The Walt Disney Company?s overall efforts in Asia, the statement said.

 
 ESS will continue to be jointly managed by two companies till the transaction, which is subject to customary regulatory approvals, closes.

The buyout will also see the exit of ESS MD Manu Sawhney, who will be replaced by Peter Hutton, senior vice-president Sports of Fox International Channels.

Hutton, who has spent 20 years in the international sports television business, will report to the ESS Board.

Sawhney, who joined ESS in 1996, will be staying with the company until 31 August to work with Hutton on a smooth transition.

News Corporation Deputy COO James Murdoch said the buyout of ESPN?s stake was in line with the company?s strategy of consolidating affiliate businesses across the globe.

"News Corporation?s acquisition of the interest of ESS that we did not already own continues the program of simplifying our operating model, consolidating our affiliate ownership structures, and furthers our commitment to delivering incredible sports programming to consumers across the globe, and particularly enhancing our position in sports programming in emerging markets," Jr Murdoch stated.

ESPN President of and Disney Media Networks Co-Chairman John Skipper said the company will continue to be invested in Asia through its digital business which includes ESPNCricinfo, ESPNFC and ESPN Mobile.

"After 16 years jointly managing ESS, we have decided to independently pursue future opportunities in Asia. We are extremely proud of our role in building ESS into what it is today, and now with the growing digital landscape in Asia, we look forward to continuing to serve Asian sports fans through ESPN-branded digital businesses like ESPNCricinfo, the leading digital cricket brand in the world, ESPNFC and ESPN Mobile," Skipper said.

"Peter is a very talented sports media executive, and we believe his extensive experience in sports rights and production will serve ESS well as the business enters into a new phase of development," News Corporation Europe & Asia COO Jan Koeppen and ESPN International EVP & MD Russell Wolff said on Hutton?s appointment.

The disbandment of JV has been on the cards as the two media conglomerates have been competing against each other outside Asia. In UK, ESPN is in direct competition with News Corp-owned pay TV broadcaster BSkyB while News Corp is planning to launch a national sports network in US to take on dominant player ESPN.

Will ad rates go up for sports?

By consolidating the sports broadcasting business, Star will strive to up ad and subscription revenues to keep in line with the high acquisition prices for cricketing properties. The network strength will come into play as it inks deals with media buying agencies, cable networks and DTH service providers.

Says Vivaki Exchange VP Sejal Shah, "The ad rates for sports will surely rise."

Lodestar UN CEO Shashi Sinha feels that the move augurs well for the sports broadcasting genre.

Says Sinha, "It will help their P&L and puts Star in a comfortable position. It makes sense to bring everything under one roof. Distribution revenues will improve. At the same time, in terms of ad sales buying is done on a series to series basis regardless of how many properties a channel has. The key for me is whether Star has a common ad sales force or a separate sales force that looks at the sports business."

Mindshare?s Ravi Rao says that Star could try a clever marketing ploy by using the strength of its network. "At the same time, there will always be a demand and supply equation. The ad industry is growing at a regular rate and clients? budgets are limited. They will continue to evaluate if a property makes sense. They will see if there is a brand fit. The price of a spot will depend on the event."

Nimbus chairman Harish Thawani, however, feels that the Star-ESPN deal will not change the market dynamics as it is not a consolidation in true sense.

"It is not a consolidation as one stakeholder in a JV has bought out another. Consolidation happens when two rivals merge. Then only the benefits follow. Of course, negative consolidation can happen when a channel shuts shop like Imagine."

Platinum Media CEO Basab Datta Chowdhury feels Star will become a much more powerful network from a distribution standpoint. However, it?s not going to be easy to command a premium through consolidation as entry barrier in sports for advertisers is high.

"The price of advertisement, however, will go up if there is increase in viewership," he avers.

No matter what the media buyers may say, Star will weigh options to make gains in ad revenues from sports broadcasting.

Also Read:

ESPN, Star JV waiting to end

MUMBAI: In a major setback for Rupert Murdoch, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the British Parliament which is probing the phone hacking scandal at News International has ruled that the News Corp chief is ?unfit? to lead the company.

The committee in its report to the Parliament accused the media tycoon of "wilful blindness" by deliberately covering up evidence of phone hacking at his UK publishing business which eventually led to the closure of 168 year old News of the World news paper.

"On the basis of the facts and evidence before the Committee, we conclude that, if at all relevant times Rupert Murdoch did not take steps to become fully informed about phone-hacking, he turned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications.

"This culture, we consider, permeated from the top throughout the organisation and speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation and News International. We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company," the committe said in the conclusion of its report.

Rupert Murdoch and his son James Murdoch had last week laid the blame of phone hacking on subordinates, insisting that they were unaware of the wrong doing at the News of the World.

According to reports, the verdict has divided political parties in Britian with Labour Party panel member Tom Watson saying the decision had not been unanimous, and Conservative lawmaker Louise Mensch saying the split had been along party lines.

In a press statement, News Corp.regretted the committee?s tough language terming them as regretful and partisan.

"Hard truths have emerged from the Select Committee Report: that there was serious wrongdoing at the News of the World; that our response to the wrongdoing was too slow and too defensive; and that some of our employees misled the Select Committee in 2009," the statement read.

"News Corporation regrets, however, that the Select Committee?s analysis of the factual record was followed by some commentary that we, and indeed several members of the committee, consider unjustified and highly partisan. These remarks divided the members along party lines.

"We have already confronted and have acted on the failings documented in the Report: we have conducted internal reviews of operations at newspapers in the United Kingdom and indeed around the world, far beyond anything asked of us by the Metropolitan Police; we have volunteered any evidence of apparent wrongdoing to the authorities; and, we have instituted sweeping changes in our internal controls and our compliance programs on a world-wide basis, to help ensure that nothing like this ever happens again anywhere at News Corporation.

"As we move forward, our goal is to make certain that in every corner of the globe, our company acts in a manner of which our 50,000 employees and hundreds of thousands of shareholders can be justly proud."

Meanwhile, satellite broadcaster BSkyB, which is part owned by News Corp, has asserted that is a ?fit and proper? licence holder and was engaging with the regulator Ofcom in its assessment of BSkyB?s suitability.

Ofcom is reviewing whether Rupert and James Murdoch are ?fit and proper? to hold a broadcast licence following charges of phone hacking.

MUMBAI: James Murdoch, the scion of media empire News Corporation, has distanced himself from the phone hacking scandal at UK publishing business News International by putting the blame on his subordinates who he alleged misled him on the goings-on at the now defunct News of the World tabloid.

Speaking under oath at Lord Justice Brian Leveson?s inquiry into media ethics, Murdoch alleged that the tabloid?s then-editor Colin Myler and the company?s former in-house lawyer Tom Crone misled him about the illegal activities at the tabloid.

According to Associated Press, Leveson asked Murdoch: "Can you think of a reason why Mr. Myler or Mr. Crone should keep this information from you? Was your relationship with them such that they may think: ?Well we needn?t bother him with that? or ?We better keep it from it because he?ll ask to cut out the cancer??"

"That must be it," Murdoch said. "I would say: ?Cut out the cancer,? and there was some desire to not do that."

The News Corp has been at the centre of scandal ever since it came to light that reporters at the News of the World hacked into the phones of hundreds of high-profile people, including a teenage murder victim.

The emergence of the scandal led News International to shut 168 year old News of the World on 7 July last year leading to a loss of 200 jobs.

For News Corp the implications of hacking scandal ran beyond News International as the move to up stake in UK broadcasting business BSkyB proved futile even after it got culture minister?s Jeremy Hunt to gobble up the remaining 61 per cent of Sky for ?8 billion.

Murdoch also denied the charge The Sun newspaper endorsed the Tories? election bid saying, "I would never have made that kind of a crass calculation," Murdoch said. "It just wouldn?t occur to me".

Rupert Murdoch, who is still chairman and chief executive of News International?s parent company News Corp, is scheduled to appear before the inquiry on Wednesday, AP reported.

Earlier, James Murdoch had to step down as the chairman of BSkyB, while continuing to remain on BSkyB?s board as a non-executive director. In February the Jr Murdoch stepped down as executive chairman of News International.

To firewall him from the likely impact of the scandal, News Corp had relocated him to New York headquarters as the deputy COO of the parent company.

Jr. Murdoch had last month further cut off all remaining ties with News International, the UK publishing business of News Corp, by resigning from the boards of Times Newspaper Holdings; News Corp Investments; and News International Publishers Limited.

The British media regulator Ofcom is already evaluating whether James Murdoch is ?fit and proper? to hold a broadcast licence on behalf of BSkyB. The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee?s report into allegations of phone hacking by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, in a related development the judge Brian Leveson said British Sky Broadcasting?s Sky News channel breached criminal law by hacking into e-mails for a story, even though the investigation applied to a case on a man who faked his own death to collect insurance money.

"What you were doing wasn?t just invading somebody?s privacy, it was breaching the criminal law," Leveson said during testimony by Sky News chief John Ryley. "At the end of the day you committed a crime."

Media regulator Ofcom said on Monday it started a probe of Sky News over the e-mail hacking incident.

BSkyB said earlier this month executives at Sky News cleared a reporter to access e-mails as part of his investigations into criminal activity, including the 2008 case of a British couple who faked the husband?s death in a canoe accident to collect life and mortgage insurance.