Murdoch says he's not interest in terrestrial TV

Staff,, brandrepublic.com, Friday, 08 November 2002, 4:00pm,

LONDON - Rupert Murdoch, chairman of BSkyB, has ruled out investing in UK terrestrial television, ending speculation that he would make a bid for Five.

Following the release of BSkyB's results this morning -- where the broadcaster said it had made pre-tax profits of £14m for the quarter ending September 30, compared with a loss of £89m for the same period last year -- Murdoch told reporters that he would not buy into terrestrial in the UK and also played down speculation that he would once again bid for DirecTV in the US.

Murdoch said: "We are not intersted in terrestrial. It is interesting there has been a lot of talk about it. The only company that is capable of buying ITV would indeed be Viacom."

However, only last night Sumner Redstone, chairman and chief executive of Viacom, said that the company would not be interested in bidding for ITV in the near future.

With UK media ownership rules set to be relaxed next year and the merger of Carlton Communications and Granada, it was widely expected that ITV and Five would become takeover targets.

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com