21st Century Fox

Book review: The Battle for Sky

Agatha Raisin (Ashley Jensen), DCI Bill Wong (Matt McCooey) and Charles Fraith (Jason Merrells) in Sky One's Agatha Raisin (Credit: Sky)

Is it just me, or does this account of the relentless march of Sky feel less like a window into the “future of entertainment” and more the TV equivalent of ancient history?

There are glorious deeds and all-conquering heroes. Step forward Jeremy Darroch, and the man who appointed him CEO of Sky, James Murdoch. Not forgetting the tragic fate of doomed and misguided rivals: hold your heads in shame, Setanta and a host of others.

What Comcast's purchase of Sky means for the future of the pay-TV platform

Riviera (Credit: Sky)

It’s official. Sky, the leading pay-TV platform in the UK, is no longer a Murdoch company. The man most closely identified with the launch and development of the film and footie satellite giant, Rupert Murdoch, signalled his departure late last year, when his 21st Century Fox media behemoth agreed to sell most of its pay-TV and Hollywood studio assets, including a 39% stake in Sky, to Disney for $71bn.

Fox clearly preferred the Mouse to a competing approach from US cable and broadcast combo Comcast.

Content wins in battle of sale versus scale

From left: Mike Darcey, Kate Bulkley, Matthew Garrahan, Mathew Horsman and Tim Hincks (Credit: RTS/Paul Hampartsoumian)
The genesis of the event, “Sale or scale”, lay in 21st Century Fox boss James Murdoch’s comments at last year’s RTS Cambridge Convention on the benefits of size: “Scale buys confidence to invest strategically and take risks, and supports the development of new technologies and innovation.”