The investment in Sky Deutschland runs into the millions, yet James Murdoch believes in the success of the Germany pay-TV operator.
“We knew from the outset that this is a tough one and that we need time, but we’ll get through this,” Murdoch said this weekend in an interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel.
“In Germany we are still at the very beginning,” he added. “But a lot of things have not been tried in Germany. We now bring the experience and a team with us.” In other countries the arrival of News Corp has also met with sceptism. But Sky Deutschland will be for News Corp “pretty sure one of the next major milestones.” In Italy, Sky Italia acquired five million customers for its pay-TV within five years, while in the UK there are now nearly ten million subscribers.” And they all came voluntarily.”
In good fashion, Murdoch also repeated his sharp criticism of the dominance of public broadcasters such as the BBC, which makes it increasingly difficult for private publishers to operate profitable journalism on the internet. “I’m just disturbed that they can carry on without a rational discussion, because the public apparatus is almost everywhere seen as sacred and untouchable.”
