Rupert Murdoch launched Sky in '89.GETTY IMAGES
Rupert Murdoch will exit Sky nearly three decades after launching the British satellite broadcaster, "bringing to an end a turbulent era" in the history of British TV, according to James Dean of the LONDON TIMES. 21st Century Fox will sell its 39% stake in Sky to Comcast for £11.6B ($15.2B), halting Murdoch's "ambition to take full control of the broadcaster before he sells a large part of his media empire to Walt Disney." Sky launched as Sky Television in '89 with a four-channel lineup that included Sky News, Sky Movies and Eurosport. Today, the broadcaster has 23 million subscribers across Europe and "a host of sports and film broadcast rights." Disney CEO Bob Iger described Sky as the "crown jewel" of the Murdoch empire (LONDON TIMES, 9/27). In London, Christopher Williams reported Fox "did not intend to control Sky for the long term going into last weekend's record-breaking blind auction against Comcast." The Murdoch family had already agreed to sell "most of its assets," including its stake in Sky, to Disney for $71B. If Fox had won the auction, Disney would have taken control of Sky next year. Media analysts had speculated that Iger might seek to use Fox's stake in Sky as a "bargaining chip in separate discussions" over the future of streaming service Hulu. Comcast is a 30% shareholder in Hulu, while following the completion of its deal with Fox, Disney will have 60% (TELEGRAPH, 9/26).
