Talk that Rupert Murdoch could sell or spin off his UK newspapers has been fuelled by his deputy at News Corp, Chase Carey, who admitted that the parent company would be worth more without the titles.
However, some observers are wrong to think that just because James Murdoch quit last week as News International chairman that there are no longer any Murdoch family members involved in the UK newspaper arm. Rupert Murdoch himself remains a director of NI — the company’s official name is NI Group Limited — and he is on the editorial board of The Times, called Times Newspapers Holdings Limited. Eldest daughter Prudence also joined the Times board last year. So the Murdochs stay hands-on — for now.
*Sales of the second issue of The Sun on Sunday tumbled to around 2.6 million against 3.2 million for its debut. Some say Rupert Murdoch’s estimated £30 million investment in the Sunday shows he is committed to his papers. However, Lorna Tilbian, media analyst at Numis Securities, thinks a sale or spin-off is likely in the medium term as News Corp is keen to buy the 61% of Sky TV that it does not already own. But Tilbian adds: “Just because you’re a seller doesn’t mean you don’t invest [in the papers]. It means you have a better business to sell.” Launching The Sun on Sunday means the printing presses no longer lie idle one day a week. “If you’re a buyer you feel you’re buying a business which is growing, expanding and has momentum,” she says.
*Monday’s Daily Telegraph diary, written by Tim Walker, carried a sniffy item about the Norwegian embassy’s support for an Ibsen production at the Rose Theatre, Kingston upon Thames. The article noted that “one critic” had judged the play to be “as impenetrable as the town’s gyratory system”. And who might that critic have been? It was the man in the Sunday Telegraph — who happens to be same Tim Walker. No need to be so modest, Tim!
*Some good news for telly people: Total TV advertising revenue in the UK increased by 2.2% in 2011 to reach a new record high of £4.36 billion, according to industry body Thinkbox. Proof that in the internet age, people still watch a lot of television.
*The rumour is that The Guardian has spent a hefty sum in the region of £4 million to £5 million on its new big TV advertising campaign.
