James Murdoch back to guide Sky. The fourth son of Rupert Murdoch, who stepped down as chairman in 2012 when the company was called BSkyB and was limited to England alone, will return as chairman of Sky, which is now a pan-European pay TV.
“We are very happy that James Murdoch has agreed to become president,” said CEO Jeremy Darroch. “His in-depth knowledge of the international media industry and his passion for supporting Sky's growing success will make an even greater contribution to our business”.
Simultaneously with the announcement of the return of James Murdoch, Sky has also released the data of his half-yearly balance sheet, closed with revenues up 5% to £5,7 billion, and profits up 12% to £675 million, also thanks to the merger of English, Irish, German, Austrian and Italian pay TVs.
For the Italian division, however, it was a complicated semester. Despite the increase in customers, mainly due to the numerous promotions with which Sky Italy tried to cope with the loss of Champions League rights, the Italian division closed the half year with a profit down by 6 million to 25 million pounds, and revenues down by 3% to 953 million.
