I feel this is important for you folks!
I have a few interested today in some buying, still watching.
Bruce Cullen
Sherwood Coasts Group
geocities.com
(Always an opinion)
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News Corp will want some kind of ACTV action SOON. What they wind up with - I have no idea.
BSkyB Appoints Tony Ball as Chief Executive
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 1999--The Board of British Sky Broadcasting Group plc (NYSE: BSY) ("BSkyB") announced today that Tony Ball will take over as Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director from Mark Booth on Tuesday June 1st, 1999.
Mr. Ball is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Fox/Liberty Networks. He spent three years at BSkyB beginning in 1993 where he held the positions of Head of Production and Operations of Sky Sports and General Manager, Broadcasting. A full biography is attached.
Jerome Seydoux, Chairman of BSkyB, said:
"Tony Ball has a profound knowledge of the pay TV industry. He has the determination to continue Sky's success in the new digital age. He will be an outstanding replacement for Mark Booth, who achieved so much during his time with Sky."
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of the News Corporation, said:
"I am delighted that the Board has chosen Tony Ball. I have known and worked with him over a long period of time, and am very pleased that he has accepted the challenge of continuing Sky's amazing success in the British television industry."
Mr. Ball said:
"I am thrilled to have been offered this tremendous opportunity. BSkyB is a fantastic company. I have first hand experience working for the company in the past, and am looking forward to the exciting challenge of leading it in the new digital age. I am taking over at a time when the free box strategy has got off to a great start. Mark Booth has done a terrific job and is leaving behind a highly effective management team. I look forward to working with them."
BSkyB ADRs (each equal to six ordinary shares) trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BSY. BSkyB ordinary shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange, and can be accessed on Reuters under the symbol BSY.L, and on Quotron and Bloomberg under the symbol BSY. Additional information is available on BSkyB's home page: sky.co.uk.
Anthony (Tony) Ball will take up the position of Chief Executive and Managing Director of BSkyB from June 1, 1999.
He was appointed President and CEO of FOX/Liberty Networks in October 1997, after serving as President and COO since February of that year. Ball oversaw all FOX/Liberty Networks operations including FOX Sports Net, the U.S. national/regional sports news, programming and telecasting, cable network; FOX Sports International, the worldwide (non-U.S.) sports programming and telecasting division; FiT TV, the 24-hour health and fitness network; and FOX Sports World, the first and only 24-hour English-language international sports network in the United States, which launched November 1, 1997.
Under Ball's guidance, FOX Sports Net grew to a subscriber base of more than 68 million homes in less than three years. FOX Sports Net is now comprised of 22 regional cable networks coast-to-coast, thanks in part to a ground breaking sports programming alliance with Cablevision's Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc. FX has achieved ratings success with the launch of NYPD Blue, The X-Files and In Living Color, while FOX Sports International has seen significant growth throughout Latin America and Asia.
In June 1996, Ball was named President and COO of FOX Sports International, where he oversaw channels in North America, Latin America, Asia and Australia.
Ball spent three years of his career with BSkyB beginning in 1993, where he held the positions of Head of Production and Operations of Sky Sports and General Manager/Broadcasting. During his tenure at BSkyB, Ball helped establish Sky Sports as one of Europe's most successful sports networks.
His background also includes the role of Senior International Vice President and Head of European Production at Trans World International (TWI), the television arm of the International Management Group (IMG). Before joining IMG, he was a founding director of Champion TV, which launched the UK's first dedicated sports channel, "The Sports Channel," on DBS. He began his career at Thames TV.
Born and educated in London, Ball holds an MBA from Kingston University. London.
--30--jh/ny* csm
CONTACT:
British Sky Broadcasting plc
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