Hopeful Investor
08 Nov 2017
Re: Sky News All TV news services are loss making. That is why ITV shut down their 24 hours news channel some years back. And you can bet your mortgage if this did happen that the BBC would immediately cutback on their overseas coverage of news as they would have no 'competition' to worry about 'breaking news' in some far flung corner of the world.So, not only would the viewers not get a full news service or choice but I don't believe that many of the politicians would be overjoyed either. Given that the majority of Conservative politicians apparently do not like or trust the BBC's version of political news, then they might not fancy this route being proposed by the Murdochs. The situation may well be moving from concerns over news plurality to one of no choice. Quite a smart move by the Murdoch's actually.
El Kel
08 Nov 2017
Re: Sky News if the main worry about Fox taking over Sky, is the disproportionately high share of news reporting Fox would have, then SKy will close Sky News down.---------- --HardboyIt's all so mind numbingly inevitable. Govt and regulatory bodies taking sooooooo long to make decisions force applicant companies into taking unintended and unwanted decisions merely so they can continue to function as desired.Sky News is a relatively new outfit and is losing money.If it's the obstacle in the way of the Fox/Sky merger, well...The overall consequence is similar to what's happening in the energy sector where there is also endless red tape and constant bashing from populist policians seeking voters' favour. The end result is...tadaa...less choice of service to the consumer. Marvellous.We need conviction politicians who can absorb the brickbats and make hard decisions that do not pander to the populist noise. All we have is an overwhelming majority of populist politicos who bend themselves into shapes to please and end up with a time wasting mess.
Hardboy
08 Nov 2017
Sky News I heard on Bloomberg this morning that Sky have told the regulators if the main worry about Fox taking over Sky, is the disproportionately high share of news reporting Fox would have, then SKy will close Sky News down. Take that Mrs Bradley, now make a decision for once in your life!
cimbom
08 Nov 2017
Premier League Rights and SKY share price Over the years I made significant amount of money from buying and selling SKY shares. The trick is buy the day Premier League rights deal is announced sell a few months or a year later. Every deal SKY entered lead to share price collapse on the day of announcement followed by a rise of up to £2-3 following year.So all arguments about SKY's vulnerability are exaggerated. Every single time SKY management has proven they know better, including the Champions League rights, worth f all!
pyueck
07 Nov 2017
Re: After all this time it might still n... Hopeful where are you seeing that Amazon have ruled themselves out of PL bid? In any case, who knows what will happen. Maybe Sky will get the rights at less of a price. Doubt it but the whole thing is closed envelopes which Sky bid way more per match than BT did last time round, so can't rule out Sky bidding less this time, but no guarantee they wont then lose the lot.All I am saying is that by the Fox bid period being extended through the PL rights deal, it's a huge added risk for Sky shareholders. PL deal goes well for Sky, highly doubt offer price will go up, it goes badly and the whole deal could be off.Look at the graphs on the times article below. Even if the rights costs are flat this time, its still hugely questionable if the sports right price is correct. But Sky really is over a barrel as the business had used the PL as the cornerstone of its brand and it would take a brave CEO to be the one who had to let investors (and staff for that matter) know that Sky was not the home of the PL.[link]
Self made hedge operator
07 Nov 2017
Re: After all this time it might still n... I cant see what the fuss is. If Fox sells the Sky sake, Disney would have to bid for the remainder as they would be purchasing a stake over 30%.Also, we would get a proper independent board to assess the bid.
Hardboy
07 Nov 2017
Re: After all this time it might still n... Apologies for the sell sign - no idea how I attached it. I certainly am not recommending a sell. The last update was very positive & I think Sky is currently fairly valued without the Fox deal.
Hopeful Investor
07 Nov 2017
Re: After all this time it might still n... [link] Amazon have also already stated they are not going to make a bid for the PL rights and BT have more than enough problems to up their stake. In fact, the PL are now accepting that next time round the domestic rights are likely to sell for less than last time and that is why they are concentrating on raising more more on overseas rights. Hence the 'big 6' wanting the money on league position rather than equal shares.
pyueck
07 Nov 2017
Re: After all this time it might still not h... There can be no doubt that to even have these discussions Fox must be 're-evaluating' the deal. They have seemingly been desperate to buy Sky for 30 years and now they almost have it they are considering getting rid of their stake? Apparently discussions between Fox and Disney broke down so maybe Fox is now back with the idea of taking over Sky. But who knows.I have always thought that Fox is buying Sky when it is facing by far the largest challenge in its history, namely soaring rights costs from cash rich rivals which are vastly outstripping revenue rises. For me the real elephant in the room, and the disaster for Sky shareholders of the delay, is that Sky will need to now get through the Premier League rights deal as an independent company. Will they keep the rights they have, how much will they have to pay, will Netflix, Amazon, Al Jazeera or even Facebook or Google get in on the action? Will BT go in more aggressive with their bidding strategy? If Netflix won the PL rights, would the whole UK paid TV market not be stood on its head with Sky looking like yesterday's proposition. Nobody knows, but what is clear is there will be huge uncertainty. How much would Sky UK be damaged by losing or having less PL rights and how much can they pay without their profits being near to wiped out? Would Fox buy Sky with no PL rights, if they pulled out where would the shareprice be for a Sky with no PL? These are the hurdles and questions the deal has to go through as a result of the delay.
Hardboy
07 Nov 2017
Re: After all this time it might still not h... If Disney are interested in buying Sky - why not put in a counter offer directly - Let Mrs B mull that over for 2 years.
Mark Y38
07 Nov 2017
After all this time it might still not happen... Fox boosted by reports of Disney talksWalt Disney and Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox shares surged on Monday after reports that Fox has discussed selling "most" of its business, including its Sky stake, to Disney.[link] if this happens, it will knock the current take over on the head completely. In fact, if Fox are considering this, whether it happen or not, it has to be wondered if they will pull out of the Sky deal in any case. I wondered why the shares dropped yesterday - presumably someone heard some rumours. Could well be in for a rough time today.
pyueck
17 Oct 2017
Re: AGM Don't forget in Martin Gilbert's charge firstgroup lost about 80% of its value. Never seen anything in the guy which makes me think he is impressive.
Hardboy
16 Oct 2017
Re: AGM Thanks for the feedback, Meths.I must admit whenever I see Martin Gilbert on TV I think he's so laid back he's almost comatosed, but personally I'd rather that than an emotional firebrand.
methilman
15 Oct 2017
Re: AGM It was quite a quiet affair - probably no more than 100 attendees in total and done and dusted in 45 minutes. Most questions revolved around the racism issues experienced at Fox in the US.JM and JD quite impressive, Martin Gilbert less so, being somewhat patronising in response to some of the (admittedly frequently banal) questions put to him from the floor. The issue of the 10p dividend this year was not adequately resolved.Lunch not a patch on BP's but despite not sticking my head above the parapet, was asked for my views by AFP and Bloomberg representatives afterwards - very flattering!Mm.
cimbom
12 Oct 2017
Liberium Capital Liberum Capital today upgrades its investment rating on Sky Plc (LON:SKY) to buy (from hold) and left its price target at 1060p.
