Rupert Murdoch, 86, is engaged on several fronts to overcome the difficult period the group is going through, both in Europe, where Murdoch presently manages 39.14% of Sky, and in the United States, where Fox News, a 21st Century Fox channel accounting for 25% of the total profit, is under a media storm after anchor man Billy O’Reilly was accused of sexual harassment.
Already three years ago, Murdoch had tried to buy Time Warner (which controls, among others, Warner Bros, Cnn and HBO), but his offer had been refused. Today, after the Joint Venture between Time Warner and Telecom AT&T, Murdoch is trying to respond with two operations: the first one is the acquisition through 21st Century Fox of 100% of Sky shares, a proposal for which he is waiting for the British authorities’ green light after having obtaining the authorization from the European Commission; the second one is the recent joint venture with American private equity Blackstone, through which he is trying to buy Tribune Media, one of the main TV stations network in the United States. Such operation is not without competitors, as it seems that Sinclair Broadcast Group is about to close a four billion dollar deal, and should they manage to close it they would acquire a great contractual power to lower the prices of TV distribution rights. A big problem for Murdoch’s group, who needs distributors to broadcast their contents.
As to Fox News, the allegations against O’Reailly (who has been promptly removed) have questioned the channel’s editorial line, which has always been rightist and extremely conservative. Following the scandal, and thanks to the intercession of Murdoch’s sons, James e Lachlan, the aggressive approach of Fox News has become much softer, though this could displease the most loyal viewers, very close to President Donald Trump who has already announce the creation of a new network, of extreme right, that would be a competitor of the new and softened Fox News.
