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Head Lamp
Administrator
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 Posted - 03/11/2007 : 23:22:03
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/nov/03/murdoch
BSkyB chairman Rupert Murdoch yesterday made a thinly veiled attack on his rivals' accusations of anti-competitive behaviour and hailed the satellite company's role in ending an era of TV "limitation and scarcity".
The media mogul used his annual meeting speech to stress that Sky has created a "competitive marketplace", acts fairly and is responding to consumers who enjoy growing power and choice. Setting out a vindication for Sky's 18 years in the UK, he petitioned for a fresh approach to competition and an environment that allows "choice and innovation to flourish even more freely."
Addressing a small number of shareholders at Sky's London AGM, Mr Murdoch said: "For Sky, competition is not simply a fact of life to be tolerated. We relish competition and help to create it. We compete vigorously, responsibly and fairly." His comments follow months of regulatory headaches for Sky and very public rows with cable TV rival Virgin Media, in which Sir Richard Branson is a major shareholder. Much of the bitterness goes back to when Sky bought a large stake in commercial broadcaster ITV after it emerged that Virgin Media was interested in buying the company.
In a separate row over the carriage of the most popular Sky channels such as Sky One on Virgin Media, the cable company is taking Sky to court. It claims that the satellite company was trying to eliminate its rival with anti-competitive behaviour.
On the ITV stake, Sir Richard attacked Sky's management, led by Rupert's son James Murdoch as chief executive, suggesting that allowing Sky to have a stake in ITV would harm British democracy.
After a four-month investigation, the Competition Commission concluded in October that Sky's 17.9% stake in ITV was anti-competitive.
Yesterday, it seemed the Australian-born Sky chairman had a message for the regulators as much as his rivals on UK competition.
"Above all, competition is great for consumers. History has shown that it is competition and free markets which deliver real, sustainable value. This is something that we should encourage and celebrate more, here in the UK," he said.
As for why Sky bought the stake, when challenged over it by the only shareholder that asked a question, Mr Murdoch senior kept to a line used by his son. "It's a good long-term investment and it will perform very well under its new leadership."
The billionaire, who owns more than a third of Sky's shares alongside his empire of TV stations, newspapers and film studios, used his speech to trace the satellite company's history in the UK, crediting it with much of the "competition" that consumers now enjoy.
Referring to Sky's long-time employees as "pioneers" he recalled a time when "some 50 million people in Britain had the choice of only four television channels ... People watched the programmes that the broadcasting elitists wanted them to watch, at the times the broadcasters decided to schedule them. I am delighted that Sky helped to bring about the end of that world of limitation and scarcity."
The billionaire did not refer specifically to Virgin Media or other rivals but he did flag up the fact that pressure will grow on all media companies as customers become used to getting everything they want.
Sky's AGM was accompanied by a trading update showing it added 83,000 net new customers to its pay-TV service in the first quarter, but profits were lower than expected due to programme and broadband costs. Adjusted operating profit was £150m, down from £183m a year earlier.
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