Mark Y38
13 Sep 2017
Re: More delays From the 21CF response:"Subject to any further delays in the decision-making process, we anticipate that the transaction will close by June 30, 2018."Although in this saga, that is a might big "Subject to...".Meanwhile the SP tanked yesterday and the prospect of a mere 10p dividend is hardly fair compensation after all this time with still no guarantee they will pass it in the end. And what if Ofcom say "Yes, OK" and Karen Bradley comes back with "I am still minded to block it"?Its all very frustrating but hardly seems worth bailing out now and so our money is trapped probably for another 9 months. Mind you, if the deal does go through, we will see a 15% rise on the current SP and I do comfort myself that over this time ITV have done really awfully so maybe this has protected Sky a little from general market sentiment for this sector. (When I say comfort myself I mean sobbing into my beer as I have ITV too, dammit.)
cimbom
13 Sep 2017
Re: More delays He dealt with the nuclear question alright and North Korea has already proven him right.Come on then promoters of nuclear weapons, show us what use they are against North Korea!
Hardboy
13 Sep 2017
Re: More delays LK: "It's a close-run thing between her, Theresa, and Liz Truss."And actually when you think how long Jezzer has been in politics, and that any politician when preparing for a public airing, must get him/herself prepared for difficult questions that will come at them so they can role out the stock answer, the way he couldn't deal with the Nuclear question on all the leadership debates, makes one wonder if he's got anything between the ears.
geta4tune
13 Sep 2017
Re: More delays Meanwhile still no dividends
pyueck
12 Sep 2017
Re: More delays What's with all this 'I'm minded to'. Who talks like that. Why say anything anyway before you have made up your mind. Imagine a judge who said 'I'm minded to find you guilty but I'll think about it for another days. Comes back 3 months later and says I'm still minded to find you guilty of murder but actually there is a robbery charge too that people have told me about.'It's a weird process, not sure what an mp should have with such a decision, surely it should be a legally sound process. Clearly the delays are driven by a political aim to not be seen as cosying up to Murdochs.I In many ways get the concerns, some of them are genuine, probably the biggest one that nobody mentions is the potential for job losses. Sky UK is not a lean operation compared with Italy and Germany and I can see a potential for job losses.As I have said before beware of this one. Premier league rights coming up which could hugely affect he business if either lost or costs go up again.
LK Hyman
12 Sep 2017
Re: More delays Hardboy,"There are plenty of incompetent politicians, but she is surely the most!"It's a close-run thing between her, Theresa, and Liz Truss.LKH on the flybridge
Hardboy
12 Sep 2017
Re: More delays I'm joining the chorus Mark.There are plenty of incompetent politicians, but she is surely the most!
Mark Y38
12 Sep 2017
More delays So here I am screaming at Karen Bradley "JUST MAKE A <EXPLETIVE DELETED> DECISION!". This is so annoying.BBC: Sky-Fox deal faces further hurdles [link] likely the 10p dividend is on the cards later in the year. Big deal.
El Kel
11 Sep 2017
Sky service problems I have used Sky at home for broadband, telephone etc for several years now. I upgraded to Sky Q last year which I think is an excellent platform for home viewing and, imo, better than the others by some distance.However, the No 1 reason I have stuck with Sky is because I previously had BT and found their service not fit for purpose when moving home or trying to resolve issues. They were an absolute nightmare to deal with, the right hand never knew what the left hand was doing. It was like old times nationalised public sector incompetence knuckle-dragging. But Sky was different, they always answered the phone - with a human as opposed to robotic voice options - quickly and were so good at sorting out problems.Problems happen, that’s life. But the service company’s trick is to RESOLVE those problems competently. That’s the big difference.I have praised Sky on these boards on several occasions to give the credit I believed they deserved for their good service.BUT NOW..! Jaysus, it seems things have changed dramatically. In another property (not my home) where there had been Virgin fibre bb, I was trying to arrange a transfer of Sky bb from another property. I have now experienced a very different service from Sky.First, you do not get straight through to talk to someone. They try every possible alternative; text conversations on your mobile, web chats on your pc, call-backs that don’t come until the next day etc etc and when/if you get through to someone, it’s disturbingly similar to the old BT story of wrong department, hold on while we put you through…back to the same waiting music and then, new department, can you please tell me the problem all over again…and again…and again…Then they said they would have to get BT out to check the box outside and the connection in the house. I waited in all fr igg in day and when I phoned to report a no-show, they told me the engineer had been and that I hadn’t answer the door. Someone is lying and it ain’t me.Now, I accept that the likes of Sky are dependent to some extent on the national embarrassment that is BT’s service, but this was after two weeks, and still I found myself waiting on the phone for 45 mins plus. I’d had enough and so pulled the bank DD and waited for Sky to contact me - it was the quickest call I got back from them when they clocked the unilateral payment cancellation. At least they had the decency to admit woeful service and that I was entitled to break the contract.I then contacted Virgin and had their box delivered the next day with the fibre bb working by that evening.I prefer Sky’s viewing platform but prefer good quick service better, so Virgin it is.My experience is that Sky’s customer service has changed significantly for the worse.It is so different that they must be doing something behind the scenes to cut costs - presumably to do with the 21CF t/o, but that’s just my guess.If anyone has managed to get to the end of this epistle (I tried to keep it short!) then I would be interested to hear of other service experiences, good or bad, with Sky during the recent months to gauge whether my service issues were a one-off or a true reflection of a downgraded service facility.Thanks.
Hardboy
05 Sep 2017
Re: No 2 companies should have to wait this long to get a Government decision for or against a take-over - especially when it had been fully researched only a couple of years earlier, so it's just a question of focussing on what has changed. It's a disgrace.Plenty of take-overs giving companies large slices of important sectors have gone through in no time at all. Which is more critical to the nation - the media (who anyone with a brain knows what is reported has to be taken with a large spoonful of salt) or our electrical supply system - which is largely owned by our European neighbours (Can you imagine Jeremy Corbyn trying to negotiate an exit from the EU whilst at the same time nationalising the electrical industry?)
El Kel
05 Sep 2017
Re: Re: No 2 companies should have to wait this long to get a Government decision for or against a take-over---------- ---Hardboy - agreed. It's so embarrassingly pathetic. Very indicative of just how weak this government has become.
El Kel
05 Sep 2017
Bradley must be sweating...she's running out of delaying options and will have to make a decision soon. Or maybe not, who knows with this saga!---------- --------Culture Secretary Karen Bradley has received the latest guidance from Ofcom, the media regulator, on the proposed takeover of Sky plc, the owner of Sky News, by US entertainment giant 21st Century Fox, the Department for Culture, Media & Sport said today.The DCMS said today: "We have today received Ofcom's response and the Secretary of State will now carefully consider the advice before making her decision on the referral on the basis of all the evidence before her, as soon as is reasonably practicable."It said this would be made public "in due course".[link]
Hydrogen Economy
24 Aug 2017
I believe the Offcom is due to respond to Government with the additional clarifications by tomorrow 25th Aug. although decision whether to refer to CMA will be after parliament comes back from recess in Sept. I assume Offcom response will be confidential, it may be interesting to see if there are any unusual SP movements. Of course Ofcom may have already been sent if ahead of schedule, or maybe not. H2.
II Editor
16 Aug 2017
NEW ARTICLE: Trends and Targets for 17/08/2017 " SKY PLC (LSE:SKY)Â There's a saying about "Chicken Little" running around shouting The Sky is Falling and we suspect such a description rather neatly fits ourselves, despite being blissfully clueless about just who Chicken Little was. It's ..."[link]
Mark Y38
10 Aug 2017
15th largest shareholder now has doubts Crispin Odey has doubts that the bid price is now such a good deal for shareholders.He only has 1% of the company but if others start thinking the same way the whole deal could be scuppered. Although the price might drop initially if that happens, the price may have been kept artificially low by the current bid so I assume he thinks it would recover and more. The longer this drags on the more chance others will wonder if it is a good deal. Maybe this is what Bradley is hoping so she doesn't have to make the final decision at all.[link]
