These are serious times at BSkyB. The company has produced stellar results, ones which, ironically, will cost its major shareholder and CEO dear as Murdoch's NewsCorp aims to buy the 61% of the company it does not own.
The company is still shy of 10m customers, and has had to spend £1.2bn on marketing over the past year.
It just goes to show what a high stakes games broadcasting is.
But BSkyB are making some cleverer moves. They're putting money into Sky Arts and have even brought back the much lamented Melvyn Bragg arts vehicle, the South Bank Show (which I worked on in my youth). Now they've bought the entire back catalogue (or rather, catalog) of HBO, the company responsible for endless hit shows in the States.
They have also, of course, bought Virgin's orphan channels.
It's been quite a year for Mr Murdoch Jnr and he is showing all the media genius of his father with these moves.
Meanwhile, any potential threat from network operators (if ever there was a threat) has been nullified by Sky offering free broadband to customers.
The company is still shy of 10m customers, and has had to spend £1.2bn on marketing over the past year.
It just goes to show what a high stakes games broadcasting is.
But BSkyB are making some cleverer moves. They're putting money into Sky Arts and have even brought back the much lamented Melvyn Bragg arts vehicle, the South Bank Show (which I worked on in my youth). Now they've bought the entire back catalogue (or rather, catalog) of HBO, the company responsible for endless hit shows in the States.
They have also, of course, bought Virgin's orphan channels.
It's been quite a year for Mr Murdoch Jnr and he is showing all the media genius of his father with these moves.
Meanwhile, any potential threat from network operators (if ever there was a threat) has been nullified by Sky offering free broadband to customers.