NEW YORK, NY, January 7, 2008 –
News Corporation announced today it has acquired a 14.58 percent stake in
Premiere AG, the leading German pay-TV operator for 287 million Euro in
cash.
“Pay-TV is a core business for News Corporation and it’s a category that’s
thriving across Europe with a multitude of new services and innovations. We
see enormous potential for growth in Germany and believe the time is right
to invest in its foremost pay-TV business, Premiere,” said Rupert Murdoch,
News Corporation’s Chairman and Chief Executive.
With over 10 million viewers and more than four million subscribers,
Premiere AG is the leading pay-TV operator in Germany and Austria.
News Corporation’s European pay-TV holdings include a 39 percent stake in
BSkyB, the number one pay-television group in the U.K. with more than 8.7
million subscribers, and its wholly-owned Sky Italia, Italy’s leading
pay-television provider with over four million subscribers.
News Corporation
News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total assets as of
September 30, 2007 of approximately US$64 billion and total annual revenues
of approximately US$30 billion. News Corporation is a diversified
entertainment company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed
entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast
satellite television; magazines and inserts; newspapers; book publishing;
and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in
the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia
and the Pacific Basin.
Contacts:
International
Teri Everett, News Corporation
212-852-7070
teverett@newscorp.com
Investors
Reed Nolte, News Corporation
212-852-7092
rnolte@newscorp.com
Germany
Christof Schramm
+49 211 9541 2311
Christof.schramm@pleon.com