GENEVA, SWITZERLAND -BSkyB Chief Executive Jeremy Darroch responded to accusations by British lawmakers about Rupert Murdoch’s running of media conglomerate News Corp., saying that BSkyB is fit to hold its broadcasting license.
Darroch told reporters that his company “remains fit and proper” to hold the license, stating that “It’s important to remember that Sky and News Corporation are separate companies, we believe that Sky’s track record as a broadcaster is the most important factor in determining our fitness to hold a licence”.
A British parliamentary committee Tuesday 1 May said Murdoch, currently under questioning for possible implication in a phone hacking scandal, was “not a fit person” to run the company and accused him of “willful blindness” in the scandal.
The scandal lead News Corp to abandon its bid last year for full control of BSkyB. On April 1 Murdoch’s son, James quit as chairman of BSkyB, in an attempt to dilute criticism over the hacking scandal. He has stayed on as non-executive director at the company.
Meanwhile, the British media regulator Ofcom said it “won’t be rushed” to make a decision on the future of the BSkyB licence, which claims a total of 10.55 million subscribers.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – WRS public radio faces a decision in June by its parent SSR (Swiss Public Broadcasting) to either close it or sell it, but the station’s fans don’t intend to let it die without a fight.
A private group has launched a petition-signing campaign, Save WRS, to at least give voice to the complaints that public funding of English-language radio should not end, although the petition carries no legal weight.
The station itself is not involved in the campaign, but Philippe Mottaz, who cannot comment while the station’s future is under discussion at SSR, has told GenevaLunch that “The amount and quality of the support received from our listeners on our website reinforces our conviction that WRS provides an invalubale service accross the country to both Swiss and foreign listeners.”
Future holds no quick or easy answers
A spokesperson at Ofcom, the federal department that oversees radio licenses, told GenevaLunch that what will happen if SSR maintains its decision to close or sell is at best complicated: the company “can’t just sell as they want – they would need to get the okay from the Federal Council. The council would then need to decide to create a new regional radio.”
The issue is more complex than whether or not to create another station because Bern is phasing out FM radio, as is happening in other countries, and promoting DAB radio.
WRS news conference
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - World Radio Switzerland (WRS), public radio in English, moves to 101.7 on the FM band 8 December, in the Geneva region, the station announced 3 December. Change your settings before next Tuesday! The move does not affect listeners who pick up WRS via online streaming, satellite, cable or DAB.
WorldRadio Switzerland, 101.7FM
The move is the result of musical chairs, or in this case FM slots, ordered by Ofcom, the federal telecommunications regulatory body. Radio Lausanne FM was awarded a license to start broadcasting in the Geneva area, but since it currently broadcasts on 88.4 in Lausanne a new slot had to be found for it: 88.4FM in Geneva, which WRS currently uses. WRS moves up as a result, to 101.7FM, currently used by Espace 2, also a member of the RSR public radio group in the region.
The changes for the three stations, in the Geneva area, will not occur at the same time:
- Thursday 3 December, Espace 2 stops using 101.7 and moves to 100.7FM
- Tuesday 8 December at midnight, WRS stops using 88.4 and moves to 101.7FM
- Tuesday 15 December, Lausanne FM starts broadcasting in the Geneva area on 88.4FM
WorldRadio Switzerland provides a mix of locally-produced news, information, entertainment and music to people who live in Switzerland. The BBC is its partner for international news and some additional programming.
Links to stations’ sites: Espace 2, Lausanne FM, WRS
British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson lashed out at media mogul Rupert Murdoch, owner of News Corporation, in a speech in the British parliament Wednesday 2 December. He accused Murdoch of having a stranglehold on TV-for-pay, of trying to weaken media regulatory body Ofcom and also of ruining British media traditions by bringing rightwing Fox News-style reporting to the UK. Murdoch came in for criticism from some observers Wednesday after the announcement that Google bowed to pressure from News Corporation and agreed not to allow news-for-pay to be displayed in full. Google’s new protection tools came out this week.
The speech could indicate that the British government, like the Australian, will now be going after News Corporation for avoiding capital gains taxes, the Guardian suggests.
Links to other sites: Forbes, Fox TV News, Guardian, Telegraph and background, Independent (12 November)
Swiss TV news on computer
Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – Switzerland’s federal communications office (Ofcom) director, Martin Dumermuth, told the Berner Zeitung newspaper Thursday that he plans to propose in January a change to the current license fee regulations. Owners of television sets and radios are subject to fees, but Dumermuth would like to include computer and cell phone owners. He was quick to point out that the goal is not to increase license fee revenue: the same amount would be collected, but spread among a larger group, reducing the fee for each type of equipment.
