Editing Sky Group (section)

====Becoming a public limited company====
In October 1994,<ref>BSkyB seeks to go into orbit with £5bn flotation. Buckingham, Lisa. ''The Guardian''; 7 October 1994;</ref> BSkyB announced its plans to float the company on the UK and US stock exchanges, selling off 20% of the company.<ref>BSkyB's float has £50m price tag. Buckingham, Lisa, ''The Guardian''; 26 November 1994</ref> The stock flotation reduced Murdoch's holding to 40 per cent and raised £900m, which allowed the company to cut its debt in half. Sam Chisholm said "By any standards this is an excellent result, in every area of the company has performed strongly".<ref>£5m a week operating profits at BSkyB. Martin Waller, Deputy City Editor. ''The Times'', 8 February 1995</ref> Chisholm became one of the world's most highly paid television executives.<ref>BSkyB trio share £3.8m bonuses. Cowe, Roger; ''The Guardian''; 15 November 1994</ref>

In 1995, BSkyB opened its second customer management centre at [[Dunfermline]], Scotland,<ref>New BSkyB centre to give Fife 1,000 jobs. Gillian Bowditch, Scotland Correspondent. ''The Times'', 6 October 1994;</ref> in addition to its original centre at [[Livingston, West Lothian|Livingston]] which opened in 1989. BSkyB entered the FTSE 100 index, operation profits increased to £155M a year, and Pearson sold off its 17.5% stake in the company.<ref>BSkyB soars to £155m as Pearson seeks stake sale. Alexandra Frean, Media Correspondent. ''The Times'', 18 August 1995</ref>

Sam Chisholm resigned from BSkyB due to a rift with Rupert Murdoch in June 1997.<ref>Murdoch row led BSkyB chief to quit. Emily Bell, Media Business Editor. ''The Observer'' (1901-2003); 22 June 1997</ref> A week later, Murdoch was quoted as saying "I cannot understand the fuss; BSkyB was grossly overpriced", which caused further rifts with the new management.<ref>Murdoch row splits BSkyB. Brown, Maggie. ''The Guardian''; 7 July 1997</ref>

In 1997, BSkyB formed a partnership with [[Carlton Television|Carlton]] and Granada to bid for the right for the new digital terrestrial network. In June, it was awarded the right to start the service, [[ONdigital]], under the condition BSkyB withdrew from the group's bid.<ref>ITV big two lead digital revolution. Eric Reguly and Carol Midgley. ''The Times'', 25 June 1997</ref> In February 2003 BSkyB wished to renegotiate its deal with MTV to reduce its payment from £20m. Chief executive Tony Ball said "We're definitely prepared to stare them down if we can't get a sensible deal. MTV, and other channels, have done particularly well out of the growth of Sky but the opportunity for savings is now there and Sky will be taking it," he added. "MTV has done extremely well out of that original deal."<ref>{{cite news|date=14 February 2003|title=Sky and MTV in cash row|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/2763959.stm}}</ref> On 17 April 2003 BSkyB launched its own range of music channels [[Scuzz]], [[Flaunt (TV channel)|Flaunt]] and [[The Amp]], as part of its plan to create its own original channels for the platform.<ref>[http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/is-channel-growth-music-to-the-ears/2024338.article Is channel growth music to the ears? | Archive]. ''Marketing Week'' (20 March 2003). Retrieved on 9 December 2013.</ref> Within 18 months the channels failed to make impact, and were outsourced to the [[CSC Media Group|Chart Show Channels]] company.<ref>[http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/bskyb-hands-running-of-music-channels-to-chart-channels/2013040.article BSkyB hands running of music channels to chart channels | Archive]. ''Marketing Week'' (16 September 2004). Retrieved on 9 December 2013.</ref>

Shortly afterwards it acquired [[Sky Arts|Artsworld]], giving a majority of subscribers full access to the channel. The buyout was part of James Murdoch's strategy to improve the perceptions BSkyB which could lead to potential new subscribers. John Cassy, the channel manager of Artsworld, said: "It is great news for the arts that a dedicated cultural channel will be available to millions of households."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/jun/20/broadcasting.uknews | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Owen | last=Gibson | title=Sky buys out arts channel | date=20 June 2005}}</ref>

In early 2007 Freeview overtook Sky Digital with nearly 200,000 more subscribers at the end of 2006, while cable broadcaster Virgin Media had three million customers.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6571203.stm | work=BBC News | title=Freeview 'overtakes Sky Digital' | date=19 April 2007}}</ref> In July 2007, BSkyB announced the takeover of [[Amstrad]] for £125m, a 23.7% premium on its market capitalisation.<ref name="BSkyB">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6923517.stm|title=BSkyB agrees £125m Amstrad deal|access-date=31 July 2007|date=31 July 2007|work=BBC News| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070806235007/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6923517.stm| archive-date= 6 August 2007 | url-status= live}}</ref>

BSkyB and [[Virgin Media]] announced that they had reached agreement for the acquisition by BSkyB of Virgin Media Television. Virgin1 was also a part of the deal and was rebranded as [[Channel One (British and Irish TV channel)|Channel One]] on 3 September 2010, as the Virgin name was not licensed to Sky.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.broadbandtvnews.com/2010/06/04/virgin-secures-new-sky-carriage-deal-after-vmtv-sale/|title=Virgin secures new Sky carriage deal after VMtv sale|publisher=Broadband TV News|date=4 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/aug/05/bskyb-virgin1-channel-one|title=BSkyB rebrands Virgin1 as Channel One|work=The Guardian |location=UK |date=5 August 2010 | first=Mark | last=Sweney}}</ref> The new carriage deals are understood to be for up to nine years.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2010/jun/04/bskyb-buys-virgin-media-channels|title=BSkyB buys Virgin Media TV channels for £160m|work=The Guardian |location=UK |date=4 June 2010 |first=Jason |last=Deans}}</ref> The deal was completed in July 2010 and Virgin Media Television was renamed [[Living TV Group]].

In June 2010, [[Attempted acquisition of BSkyB by News Corporation|News Corporation made a bid for complete ownership of BSkyB]]. However, following the [[News International phone hacking scandal]], critics and politicians began to question the appropriateness of the proposed takeover. The resulting reaction forced News Corp. to withdraw its bid for the company in July 2011.<ref name="bbc-takeoverpulled">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-14142307|title=News Corp withdraws bid for BSkyB|publisher=BBC|date=13 July 2011|access-date=13 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8634176/News-of-the-World-phone-hacking-scandal-timeline.html |title=News of the World phone hacking scandal: timeline |newspaper=Telegraph |date=13 July 2011|access-date=14 July 2011 |location=London |first1=Indu |last1=Chandrasekhar |first2=Murray |last2=Wardrop |first3=Andy |last3=Trotman| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110714013912/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/8634176/News-of-the-World-phone-hacking-scandal-timeline.html|archive-date=14 July 2011|url-status= dead}}</ref> The scandal forced the resignation of [[James Murdoch]], who was the chairman of both BSkyB and News International, from his executive positions in the UK, with Nicholas Ferguson taking over as Chairman of BSkyB.<ref>{{cite web|title=James Murdoch resigns as BSkyB chairman|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17599269|website=BBC News|access-date=9 December 2015|date=3 April 2012}}</ref> In September 2012, [[Ofcom]] ruled that BSkyB was still fit to hold broadcast licenses in the UK, but criticised James Murdoch's handling of the scandal.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/20/sky-broadcast-james-murdoch-criticised|title=Sky ruled fit for broadcast licence, but James Murdoch comes in for criticism|last1=O'Carroll|first1=Lisa|date=20 September 2012|work=The Guardian|access-date=13 July 2017|last2=Davies|first2=Lizzy|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> On 28 June 2013, News Corporation was split into two publicly-traded companies; the company's publishing operations (including News International, renamed [[News UK]]) and broadcasting operations in Australia were spun into a new company known as [[News Corp]], while the company's broadcast media assets, including its 39.14% stake in Sky, were renamed [[21st Century Fox]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-news-corp-21st-century-fox-20130628-story.html|title=News Corp. divides into two companies; 21st Century Fox is born|date=28 June 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=12 April 2017}}</ref>