Rupert Murdoch is facing a power challenger in News Corp. (Fox etc.)

[WilliamPitt]

http://www.thecouriermail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,8464851%255E3122,00.html

Liberty boosts stake in News
Tony Grant-Taylor and agencies
23jan04

UNITED States media investor John Malone has acquired a 9.15 per cent voting interest in News Corporation, cementing his place as the company's second most influential investor after the family of chairman Rupert Murdoch.

Mr Malone's cable TV and media investment group, Liberty Media Corp, surprised the market and analysts when it revealed overnight on Wednesday that it had effectively swapped millions of non-voting preference shares and paid $US693 million ($A904 million), to lift its voting interest.

Liberty's 9.15 per cent voting interest in News (associate publisher of The Courier- Mail) compares with a Murdoch family voting stake of 30 per cent.

The move took Liberty's total equity holding in News, including its remaining large holding of non-voting shares, to 17 per cent.

...more...

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Liberty Media Corp:

http://www.libertymedia.com/liberty_glance/default.htm

[Cleita]

1. That seems to be good news.

I don't understand quite how that works and would have to study it a bit, but anything that starts loosening Murdoch's hold on our media couldn't be bad.

[KharmaTrain]

4. This Is Just A Boys Club Swap

Malone owns whatever TCI/Comcast is today...one of the largest cable operators and all he's doing is throwing some chits at one of his larger suppliers of programming on his systems...also to get a piece of Rupert's action with the Fox networks and DIRECTV.

Bottom line, it's rich getting richer...Malone is no friend of ours.

[KoKo]

2. Interesting. Last I heard the Barclay Brothers (resclusive) owners of the

"Scotsman" (who has been pretty good in Liberal Reporting) and some Mail order textile businesses who live in a secluded Faux Castle on a "remote" Island off Britain had the bid for Black's Newspaper Empire...

I'll have to check the British Papers to see where this has gone since last Friday.

Thanks for the update. The Barclay Brothers were so fascinating that these folks sound dull by comparison.

[Armstead]

3. Liberty already owns too much of too much

That is a prime example of what has happened to the mdia. Liberty already owns too much in cable TV, including the Discovery, TLC and Teavel channels, which they changed from intelligent TV to trashy "reality TV."