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Tag: James Murdoch

  • Star India CEO Uday Shankar is ‘Person of the Decade’

    Star India CEO Uday Shankar is ‘Person of the Decade’

    Mumbai: Uday Shankar, CEO of Star India, received a significant industry award, The Impact Person of the Decade – 2014. Maharashtra Governor Chennamaneni Vidyasagar Rao gave the prestigious award to Shankar late last evening in the presence of media visionary Subhash Chandra, Chairman of Esselworld and Zee, and Annurag Batra, Chairman of the exchange4media Group.

     

    The award recognises the one individual who has made maximum and far-reaching impact on and influenced and helped shape the media, marketing and advertising industry tremendously over the last ten years.

     

    Maharashtra Governor C Vidyasagar Rao, addressing an audience packed with leaders and professionals of Indian media, marketing and advertising, said, “Shri Uday Shankar’s journey from being a journalist to head a large media organization has been spectacular. His agenda of driving a social change through programs like Satyamev Jayate has had a huge impact. In a country where cricket is a religion, he has brought to the fore games like Hockey and Kabaddi and demonstrated how these games could also be popularized in a changing world.”

     

    Accepting the award, Shankar said, “This is overwhelming – there is nothing more special than peer recognition.  I consider myself a creation of this industry, and for this industry to recognize that I might have made some impact on the last decade fills me with a sense of both — pride and gratitude.”

     

    Introspecting on winning the Impact Person of the Decade, Shankar said, “When I was informed by Impact that I am the person of the decade, I couldn’t help but reflect on my journey and what led me here…  I can say it in one word – collaboration.  That seems to be the one thing that I have done better and better and better over the last 10 years.” However, he added that “the willingness to collaborate has always been built on a solid conviction to do the right thing – not just for Star but for the entire industry and society. The conviction to not do regressive content, the conviction to not compromise the larger interest of community.”

     

    Shankar attributed his success at Star to his excellent team. “I think my success at Star and the success of Star India are results of not just an extremely talented team that I could put together but that this team collaborates with and compliments one another extremely well… my amazing team at Star has always rallied around to die for every single ridiculous plan that I have come up with,” he said. “This recognition is yours!”

     

    James Murdoch, Co-Chief Operating Officer, 21st Century Fox, said in a recorded message, “Uday Shankar is really driven by a belief in communications, and a belief that media and storytelling can make a positive difference. We’re enormously proud of Uday for being named the Impact Person of the Decade. It’s a great honour for him — one that he richly deserves. Star has always been a great innovator, and under Uday’s leadership, it has taken that to new levels.”

     

    Superstar Aamir Khan, in a recorded message, said, “I’ve known Uday for about five years now — his razor-sharp mind, his intelligence, his courage, his boldness to take difficult decisions… He believes in the impossible, and that’s why he achieves the impossible.”

     

    Media captain Aroon Purie, Chairman, India Today Group, said of Mr Shankar in a message, “He is a good thinker; obviously a great leader… I am delighted that he is getting this award. He has made a great impact on the industry, and I am sure that his leadership in Star, and also as part of the industry, will have a great impact in the years to come.”

     

    Annurag Batra, Chairman – exchange4media Group, said, “Across the years, Mr Shankar’s contributions to the entire space have been remarkable – whether through his mission for innovative and socially responsible content that is based on great storytelling, or the investments in and support of sports genres across Kabaddi, Football and Hockey and Cricket, and his remarkable efforts in aligning industry stakeholders for issues of industry and social significance. These, with several other reasons, are why the Impact editorial team selected Mr Shankar from a solid list of respected industry professionals for having impacted the industry and society in such a positive and significant way through his vision for both Star  and the industry. He is indeed a truly deserving winner of the top honour in the space of Media, Marketing and Advertising.”

     

    Click here to read Uday Shankar’s acceptance speech

  • “Star India will prove to be a game changer for us”: James Murdoch

    “Star India will prove to be a game changer for us”: James Murdoch

    CANNES: 21st Century Fox co-chief operating officer James Murdoch has lots of hopes from Star India. During his keynote on day one of the ongoing MIPCOM 2014, he said, “If we continue to innovate and lead in India, it will prove to be a game changer for us. It is the number one network in India.” He further stressed that the India business is really doing well for them and so was Sky in the UK.

     

    Murdoch believes in giving freedom and creating a company which backs talent. “At 21st Century Fox, we aspire to be one of the biggest homes for creativity and storytelling. We want to be a place where we can attract some of the best talent and encourage them to take risks, when they can’t take it anywhere else,” stressed Murdoch.

     

    21st Century Fox which is in different businesses, right from television to movies to cable and satellite, believes that the main business at the end of the day is of digital video and about story telling. “A lot of barriers in different lines of our business is breaking down. The challenges in terms of strategies and customer behaviour is similar from place to place and business to business,” he added.

     

    The biggest media giant believes in giving its executives and talent the freedom to think and create. “The culture that we are creating is that right from Mumbai to LA, the executives should have the confidence for risk taking and do great story telling,” he said. The company believes in empowering people to do great business.

     

    Murdoch laid a lot of emphasis on taking risks. “Larger companies have the ability to take risks. We learn lessons along the way. As a company we have made investments in challenging businesses. We are trying to create a culture where people understand that it is better to take risks, even if you get it wrong, at least you have tried. Great successes come from great risks. We have a culture where we do not get traumatised with failures.  We want to be a place where people feel that they can be backed,” he announced.

     

    He feels that all of Fox’s business is of risk. “Investing in original programming is the biggest risk we take, as investing in original programming means delaying some profits for the company,” he said while giving example of Simpsons, which they made and then acquired for cable syndication in the US. “When we took the step, we didn’t know how customers would react to it.”

     

    “These are the sort of risks one needs to take. I love the moment in the business when you say, ‘Holy Cow, we did it!’” he stressed.

     

    The son of media baron Rupert Murdoch, also spoke about the Shine and Endemol joint venture. “We saw opportunity in merging with Endemol. This is a business which will benefit from scale, breadth and diversity of creativity. Both Shine and Endemol have a great future.”

     

    Murdoch feels that in a creative business, one cannot over-synergise. “You have to allow people to run their own show.”

     

    According to Murdoch, consolidation in infrastructure business of cable and television has begun. “The upstream business will see further consolidation. People will seek to invest more in programming, because they see value in it,” he said.

     

    He also touched upon the most talked about collaboration between Time Warner Cable and 21st Century Fox, which did not take place.  “We had thought that the combination could be exciting. It was an opportunity at a moment in time. Given the nature of these things, we didn’t want to get into things like hostile takeovers and so moved out.”

     

    The company will soon be completing the merger of its three Sky businesses in Europe: UK, Germany and Italy. So why merge the three, he said, “Each one of them in their lifecycle has done really well. There are a lot of common things they do. We feel that together there is a huge opportunity to accelerate the business. Also with this they can create great stories. In Europe there is great opportunity for studio business.”

     

    According to Murdoch, consumers like bundling, because that drives down prices and consumption up. “People will bundle things in different ways and the stack will be re-ordered. Subscription TV is alive and kicking, and it is changing, driven by competition,” he said.

     

    He is happy when customers surprise him. “We need to create authenticity in the content. Customers are being better served today.”

     

    He concluded by saying, “TV industry has been very progressive and we need to be pacesetter.”

  • Aamir Khan to take centerstage at MipCom

    Aamir Khan to take centerstage at MipCom

    MUMBAI: MipCom has announced that Indian actor-director-producer Aamir Khan will take to the stage for the inaugural MIP MegaSession, entitled ‘The Future of Factual.’ 

     

    Organised by Reed MIDEM, the MipCom entertainment content tradeshow takes place in Cannes from 13 to 16 October.

     

    Scheduled for 14 October, the first ever MIP MegaSession will gather leading players driving the next generation of online and linear factual programming on the main stage of the Grand Auditorium to discuss where the genre is heading.

     

    Khan has starred in dozens of Hindi movies, including some of the highest-grossing Bollywood hits of all time. He is also a writer, director and producer, his credits including the colonial story ‘Lagaan’, which was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.

     

    Since May 2012, Khan has fronted the Hindi talk show ‘Satyamev Jayate’ (Truth Alone Prevails), broadcast on the Star channels and the Doordarshan network. The show has had a deep impact on Indian society and its ruling classes, highlighting sensitive social issues such as female foeticide, rape, child sexual abuse, dowry customs, honour killings, domestic violence and wider environmental issues.  ‘Satyamev Jayate’ has been watched by some 700 million people, and is also a major hit with online viewers and has a huge following on social media.

     

    The third season of the show will soon go on air taking forward the philosophy that anything is possible (‘Mumkin hai’).

     

    Khan will be in conversation with Oscar-nominated writer, director and producer Morgan Spurlock, when he will expand upon what drove him to produce the show under his banner, how it has struck such a resounding chord in India, and whether its format can be replicated in other countries.

     

    Khan’s session in France was coordinated by Indiantelevision.com group founder, CEO and editor in chief Anil Wanvari, who represents Reed Midem’s content markets Mipcom and MipTV in India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh and music market Midem in India, and Reed Exhibitions Singapore based market Asia Television Forum in India.

     

    Other global media business and entertainment leaders who are slated to speak at this year’s MipCom include Simon Cowell, 21st Century Fox’s  James Murdoch, CBS’s Armando Nunez and David Stapf, and Chief Content Officer of Netflix, Ted Sarandos.

  • James Murdoch to deliver MIPCOM media mastermind keynote

    James Murdoch to deliver MIPCOM media mastermind keynote

    MUMBAI: 21st Century Fox co-chief operating officer James Murdoch will give the first media mastermind keynote interview in MIPCOM 2014. He will address delegates in Cannes on Monday, 13 October.

     

    Murdoch works across 21st Century Fox’s global portfolio of businesses and has direct responsibility for the group’s television interests, which includes Fox Networks Group in the United States and, internationally, the Company’s holdings in BSkyB, Sky Deutschland, Sky Italia and Star India.

     

    “We are extremely honoured to welcome James Murdoch as MIPCOM’s opening mastermind keynote interview,” said Reed MIDEM’s Television Division – director Laurine Garaude in a statement.

     

    According to Garaude, 21st Century Fox has dared to challenge convention, reshaping the industry and developing businesses that are large employers of creative talent. “Their commitment to international television production coupled with their interests in pan-European pay-TV makes this a unique opportunity to hear about the group’s plans from a recognised leader in the television industry. At a time when the quest for powerful original content has never been so relevant we are delighted to have James Murdoch speak at MIPCOM 2014 and look forward to contributing to the global debate on creativity in today’s digital era.”

     

    Organised by Reed MIDEM, the 30th anniversary of MIPCOM will take place in Cannes from 13-16 October 2014.
     

  • Uday Shankar becomes the first Indian media CEO to address the Paley Media Council

    Uday Shankar becomes the first Indian media CEO to address the Paley Media Council

    MUMBAI: India will witness a significant milestone in the history of media industry as Star India CEO Uday Shankar becomes the first Indian CEO from the media and entertainment (M&E) industry to speak at the Paley Center for media, the premier institution dedicated to advancing the understanding of media and its role across cultures and societies.

     

    Shankar will be addressing a breakfast session, which will be moderated by Time International editor Bobby Ghosh at Paley Dialogue on 30 May in New York. He will be introduced to the distinguished guests by 21st Century Fox Co-COO James Murdoch.

     

    The Paley Media Council is an exclusive, invitation-only membership community for entertainment, media, and technology industry executives and provides an independent forum for top industry leaders. Featuring candid conversations with the best minds in the industry, this year’s Paley Media Council will see an exclusive gathering in presence of the most distinguished guests from major American business organisations, foreign press organisations and leading social organisations.

     

    At this global media platform, Star India CEO Uday Shankar will discuss the journey of Star India and how the company has become India’s leading media business by using its programming to spark national discussions on a range of social and political issues.

     

    Most notably, the series Satyamev Jayate, Star’s hit talk show about India’s pressing social concerns, has become the premier platform through which Indians can discuss social issues. This achievement, combined with Star’s track record of cultivating forward-thinking programming, casts Star as a model for what a 21st century media business should look like – one that harnesses the power and reach of television to touch lives and create meaningful change.

     

    Since 1995, the Paley International Council Summit has provided an independent forum that brings together chief executives of the world’s most important media, entertainment, and technology companies to advance the exchange of ideas and to foster community among them. Informal and organized discussions cover a wide range of critical issues that define the media industry and its role in society for generations to come.

  • Rupert Murdoch’s pay for latest fiscal year dropped to $28.9 mn

    Rupert Murdoch’s pay for latest fiscal year dropped to $28.9 mn

    MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch’s compensation for the latest fiscal year dropped 3.7 per cent to $28.9 million.

     

    He had made $30 million the previous year, but saw a slight decline in the latest period ended 30 June, according to a regulatory filing Friday.

     

    The filing was made by his entertainment conglomerate 21st Century Fox, which was created along with new News Corp in a split mid-year. The pay for the latest year was for Murdoch’s work as chairman and CEO of the pre-split News Corp.

     

    The fiscal-year pay for former News Corp and now 21st Century Fox deputy COO James Murdoch, the media mogul’s son, rose 1.2 per cent from $16.84 million to $17.04 million.

     

    Chase Carey, president and COO of the pre-split News Corp and now 21st Century Fox, made $27.05 million in the latest year, up 9.2 per cent from $24.76 million in the fiscal year ended 30 June 2012.

     

    Rupert Murdoch’s salary for the latest year was unchanged at $8.1 million, his stock awards rose from $3.51 million to $5.16 million, and he also received a $12.5 million non-equity incentive payout, a form of bonus he received instead of the bonus that he had gotten a year earlier. His other compensation included $274,531 in personal use of the corporate aircraft and $15,694 in personal use of a corporate car. The conglomerate’s stock rose 46 per cent in the most recent fiscal year.

     

    James Murdoch’s salary was unchanged at $3 million, his stock awards rose from $5.26 million to $7.48 million, and he got $6 million in non-equity incentive compensation. Among his other compensation was $283,035 in personal use of the corporate aircraft and $8,925 in personal use of a corporate car. The executive oversees the company’s international operations.

     

    Carey’s salary was also unchanged at about $4 million, his stock awards rose from $8.77 million to $12.91 million, and his non-equity compensation amounted to $10 million. His other compensation included $60,067 in personal use of the corporate aircraft and $14,400 in personal use of a corporate car.

  • Murdoch to leave BSkyB later this year

    Murdoch to leave BSkyB later this year

    MUMBAI: UK pay TV platform BSkyB CEO James Murdoch is believed to be leaving the firm later this year to take up a position at US media conglomerate News Corp.

    A report in the Mail on Sunday says that Murdoch will be replaced at Sky by the head of Sky Italia, Tom Mockridge. Reports add that News Corp chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch is understood to have wanted his son to return to America at the end of last year.

    However James wanted to remain at Sky at least until this summer to see through the introduction of both broadband and high definition television, both of which were projects he instigated.

  • James Murdoch taking more hands on role at Star?

    James Murdoch taking more hands on role at Star?

    Truth will out. After months of rumour and speculation, the pieces of the puzzle as to what exactly has been going on behind the scenes at Rupert Murdoch’s Asian arm are falling in place (or so we believe).

     

    Conversations Indiantelevision.com has had with industry executives in India and Hong Kong aver that the countdown to yesterday’s announcement of Star CEO Michelle Guthrie’s departure had been set in motion months before. The first inklings of that came with the creation last March of a new executive structure within Star wherein Steve Askew was named president of Star Entertainment in addition to COO of Star; and the appointment less than a month later, of Paul Aiello as president of Star.

    Aiello’s was a newly created role that put him in charge of developing strategic and business directions for the pan Asian broadcaster while overseeing corporate functions including business development, strategy and implementation, Star Ventures, government affairs and corporate communications.

     

    Similarly, the schism that has riven Star India these past months also directly links back to events of March 2006 and the shake up in the Indian operations wherein two units were created – Star Group and Star Entertainment – with Peter Mukerjea made CEO of Star Group India and Sameer Nair promoted from COO Star India to CEO of Star Entertainment India. More on that later though.

     

    Back in Hong Kong, meanwhile, the next significant appointment was in September of David Butorac as president, Platforms. That announcement marked the return to the News Corp fold of a BSkyB veteran who was then COO of Malaysia’s Astro DTH operator.

     

    All these moves are said to have been orchestrated out of London by BSkyB CEO and now looking ever more likely heir to the Murdoch legacy, James Murdoch. That James would have a personal interest in the affairs of Star is not surprising since his three-year stint as chairman and CEO of Star marked his coming of age as an entrepreneur.

     

    When James joined Star in May 2000, Star was losing ?100 million a year. When he handed over charge to Guthrie in November 2003 Star’s India operations were extremely profitable and China was beginning to show profitability. Guthrie’s mandate was to drive the company further into these markets and steer it into DTH, and pure pay TV plays with higher subscription revenues.

     

    In both China (due to political reasons as much as anything) and India (the cycle of change?) there has been a deceleration but that doesn’t really tell the story. One could argue that it is also down to the advantages of being an owner but there is no getting away from the fact that during James’ reign there was clarity and simplicity in both executive chains of command as well as corporate structure and direction.

     

    To say that the executive command structure at Star today is convoluted would be putting it kindly. And nothing exemplifies this better than the India operations where there is a strategic/corporate CEO in Mukerjea, an operational CEO in Nair, and a president in Paritosh Joshi responsible for managing revenues. And there soon may even be a COO if reports of a move to India of long time Star Hong Kong hand Sanjay Das pan out as true. We’re surprised that the name of long-time Star loyalist and former India business development head Jagdish Kumar has not cropped up anywhere in the speculations.

     

    According to our reading of the events of the past few months, James has been preparing the ground for a return to the lean, mean management style that was in place earlier and this could more than likely see more executive churn right through the Star system. At the top of that list of potential near term departures is Askew, currently on four months’ sick leave.

     

    A possible offshoot of this could be that James will sooner rather than later have a far more role in running the affairs of Star, maybe take on a designation of chairman of Star or some such.direct

     

    And truth is that Star really means India, the rest of it being not much more than feeder operations. So James will perforce have to send out a clear message there. The present neither here nor there two-CEO proposition has proved an unmitigated disaster.

     

    If the head honchos at Star were convinced that Nair was the man to lead it into the new and uncertain digital future then they should have gone with him and let him do his job. The presence of a shadow CEO (Mukerjea) was a huge disservice to Nair and even more so to Mukerjea, who had helmed the fortunes of Star India in its period of greatest dominance.

     

    POSTSCRIPT: The reasons for Nair’s deciding to quit (informed sources say he put in his papers on 28 December) remain shrouded in mystery because his is after all the most high profile media chief executive’s job in the country (shadow CEO notwithstanding). If anyone could be said to have had reasons to quit it was Mukerjea, and by current reckonings, both have resigned. So there is certainly some serious damage control that newly inducted CEO Aiello has to deal with when he arrives in India on Monday.

  • James Murdoch lashes out at UK media regulatory body Ofcom

    James Murdoch lashes out at UK media regulatory body Ofcom

    MUMBAI: UK media scion James Murdoch at a conference held by Ofcom attacked the UK regulatory body.

    He argued that there should be more deregulation. His speech came at a time when Ofcom is looking into the legalities of Murdoch buying an 18 per cent in ITV, which is a rival of pay TV operator BSkyB that Murdoch heads. Murdoch’s move put paid to NTL’s aim of taking a stake. Entrepreneur Richard Branson owns a stake in NTL. Media reports indicate that in his speech Murdoch blamed what he terms as the ‘dead hand of history’ and specifically UK pubcaster the BBC and its founder, Lord Reith, for a fearful and backward-looking legacy that he said bred elitism and stifled creativity.

    “We should never forget that when broadcasting first came to this country in the 1920s, politicians and the British establishment were more fearful than excited by the new wireless service. They were aided by Lord Reith, who took a pretty firm view of the need to keep the lower classes in their place. He welcomed the transformation of the BBC into a state agency in 1929 and thereafter had no time for any kind of innovation, whether it was jazz – a ‘filthy product of modern culture,’ according to him – or indeed television itself.”

    He said that effective broadcasting regulation should be a compass by which a regulator and the players in a market can find true north in constantly shifting seas and warned the getting it wrong would open the way for tiresome and dysfunctional meddling that can shipwreck the regulatory process itself, not to mention business and their customers across the board.

    Murdoch argues that those who want continuing intervention in the industry are motivated by institutional or commercial self-interest.

    “That is, for example, why Channel 4 wrapped up its desire to be able to spend more of our money under the guise of public service competition to the BBC. Or indeed why the BBC favours digital terrestrial television even though it is an inferior technology in terms both of choice and functionality.”

    He hit out at the BBC for having what he calls a fantasy about creating a ‘British Google’” to be funded by the taxpayer. “This is not public service, it’s megalomania. Delusions of grandeur will flourish in the absence of proper accountability,” he said. Channel 4 CEO Andy Duncan offerd a rebuttal by saying that the broadcaster is an extremely good example of a blend of market intervention and commercial competence. “The quality of television in this country and the level of originated British programming, is directly a result of intervention (by the state).”

    Branson meanwhile says that Murdoch is scared of what will happen if NTL takes a stake in ITV. He says that Murdoch is terrified that a stake for NTL in ITV would mean competition for Sky. Branson adds that NTL would fight BSkyB’s prichase of the 18 per cent stake in ITV. He was quoted in reports saying, “The Murdoch empire was, I think, absolutely terrified at the idea of Virgin taking over, because we would have given Sky some real competition.

    “They responded by buying 20 per cent of ITV to thwart our takeover. We have gone to the competition authorities and said that a company that already controls most of Britain’s newspaper media plus has most of the sporting and film rights in the UK shouldn’t be also allowed to have such an undue influence over ITV.”

    The Office of Fair Trading is examining the case. Some politicians have even met the British government and have made an appeal that in the public’s interest Murdoch not be allowed to buy a stake in ITV.

  • BSkyB’s Q1 revenues up 11 %

    BSkyB’s Q1 revenues up 11 %

    MUMBAI: UK pay TV platform BSkyB has announced results for the first quarter ended 30 September 2006.

    Revenues increased by 11 per cent to £1071 million.

    DTH subscribers increased to 8.258 million, net growth of 82,000 in the quarter. Sky+ households increased by 139,000 in the quarter to 1,692,000, represtning a 20 per cent penetration of total DTH subscribers.

    Multiroom households increased by 46,000 in the quarter to 1,093,000, a 13 per cent penetration of total DTH subscribers. HD households increased to 96,000, net growth of 58,000 in the quarter.

    BSkyB CEO James Murdoch said, “This has been an important period for the company. We are building on our leadership in pay television and are becoming an increasingly well positioned challenger in the £20 billion combined industry for pay television, broadband and telephone services. Sky has delivered the highest first quarter subscriber growth for three years and is seeing high demand across our range of services.

    “One in three families in the UK and Republic of Ireland are choosing Sky for the widest choice in television and now almost a quarter of those families take at least one additional product from us as well. While it is still early, we are pleased with the progress since the launch of Sky Broadband and in just 15 weeks, we’ve seen a great response from Sky customers. Our preparations, pace of provisioning and investments in service and systems to manage demand are performing well. Our strategy is leading to an increase in revenue growth with overall revenues up 11 per cent in the quarter.

    “Our expansion into new areas is supported by continued growth and strong financial performance with pay television EBITDA up eight per cent in the quarter. A wide choice of quality programmes, innovative services like HDTV, Sky+, and broadband are not only attracting new customers, but also offering new services to existing customers. There’s never been a better time to join in.”

    The total number of DTH digital satellite subscribers in the UK and Ireland was 8,258,000, representing a net increase of 82,000 in the quarter and the highest first quarter net subscriber growth since 2003. Strong demand for Sky’s broad range of products led to an increase in gross additions of 14 per cent on the comparable period to 325,000; gross additions were 34 per cent higher than those recorded in the three months to September 2004.

    Sky+ the firm says continues to exceed expectations, with over 20 per cent of all Sky households now taking the product. At 30 September 2006, the number of households subscribing to Sky+ was 1,692,000, an increase of 139,000. During the quarter, the Group reduced the price of Sky+ for existing customers, removing the necessity to take a Multiroom subscription, and thereby allowing them to upgrade at the same attractive rates as new joiners.

    Sky HD subscribers more than doubled during the quarter to 96,000, the fastest ever customer take-up of an additional Sky product, and already representing three times the sales levels achieved by Sky+ in its first year.