BSKYB bid 20 years on

[Moriarty]

Start with a few of his worst horrors then.

Wapping was an absolute disgrace. That set in motion a chain of events that led to Murdoch's acquisition of -unprecedented for a private citizen* - political power. He sacked over 5000 print workers and, during the ensuing protests, had the Metropolitan Police as his own private army of strike-breakers, all with the blessings of Thatcher who used her ally to smash union power in the UK. Despite Andrew Neil's denial, he acquired The Times, went back on his promise to maintain editorial autonomy - a promise given to Parliament no less, and sacked Harold Evans who had the temerity to object to Murdoch's interference. The craven, servile nature of today's corporate-owned press is all down to Murdoch.

Edit: * And a US citizen to boot.

 

[JohnnyKills]

https://footballexplainers.wordpres...ed-footballs-biggest-jewel-manchester-united/

Sky already had a monopoly when it came to TV rights. To buy the biggest football club and sub let games would've been disastrous.

Chelsea and City's owners didn't buy those clubs for TV interests. There was no conflict of interest unlike Murdoch's deal.

Murdoch actually looked into buying Spurs in the 1980s but didn't for conflict reasons (get one up on his rival Maxwell). And that's where Lord Sugar came in.

Yeah that's a good explanation.

Still, doesn't mean that the PL couldn't have blocked the Chelsea or City takeovers. Surely it can't be right that some clubs are allowed to play by different financial rules from the rest. Plus it's not as if those two clubs have made the PL what is today.

Also, Sugar is an interesting point. He was chairman of Spurs and Amstrad, who made BSkyB's satellite dishes. How on earth was he allowed a vote when they came to decide which company should get broadcasting rights back in 1992?

 

[calodo2003]

What do people have against Rupert Murdoch exactly?

How long do you have? It might be a bit before I have all the info compiled.

 

[Class of 63]

The phone hacking done under his rule was a huge scandal. Awful shenanigans including bribery.

We dodged a bullet here.

His media outlets deride climate change and whipped fake up news storm on trivial matters on like where Obama was born, the media outlets he owns are not far off fascist outlets which breed hate

Can you skip straight to the bad stuff please

 

[Feed Me]

Loads of businesses are "artificially elevated" due to high net worth investors entering the market, so I'm not sure why you'd be offended by Chelsea/City (except that it reduces United's status as perpetual champions of England)

Amazon for example are "artificially elevating" every market that they're entering at the moment and even announcements related to new business ventures is met with a lowering stock value of their competitors.

We should thank the Chelsea/City owners as the entertainment and competitiveness of the Premier League and ergo the value of our annual TV revenue is based on the players they've brought into the league. The Premier League without Aguero, Hazard, De Bruyne, Silva etc would be a much more unattractive spectacle.

You’ve hit the nail on the head. I’m offended because of my emotional investment in a team that’s had to (relatively speaking) take a back seat as a result.

Not bothered about the attractive spectacle of the league and would rather United hoovered up every trophy going.

Incidentally, I like the principle of FFP, although think the execution has been a shambles.

 

[whatwha]

Wapping was an absolute disgrace. That set in motion a chain of events that led to Murdoch's acquisition of -unprecedented for a private citizen* - political power. He sacked over 5000 print workers and, during the ensuing protests, had the Metropolitan Police as his own private army of strike-breakers, all with the blessings of Thatcher who used her ally to smash union power in the UK. Despite Andrew Neil's denial, he acquired The Times, went back on his promise to maintain editorial autonomy - a promise given to Parliament no less, and sacked Harold Evans who had the temerity to object to Murdoch's interference. The craven, servile nature of today's corporate-owned press is all down to Murdoch.

Edit: * And a US citizen to boot.

This, and the climate change thing, and the phone hacking, are pretty good reasons to hate him. Thanks.

 

[DavidDeSchmikes]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/apr/11/theobserver.uknews1

 

[Moriarty]

This, and the climate change thing, and the phone hacking, are pretty good reasons to hate him. Thanks.

We're just getting started. The Sun's libellous and false narrative about Hillsborough besmirched the reputations of hundreds of innocent people and led to sweeping changes to the game of football. The Sun was instrumental in helping to cover up the gross incompetence of the police in the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters. The Sun's support for Thatcher, especially the jingoistic commentary on the Falklands conflict (Gotcha!) and the abuse heaped on the miners was way beyond the pale. We used to have an independent press in the UK with hundreds of regional titles covering the length and breadth of the land. Now, all these little papers are dead or dying and those that have not are swept up under the ownership of huge conglomerates that have the power to influence governments. Murdoch has had a huge hand in that coming to pass.

 

[finneh]

You’ve hit the nail on the head. I’m offended because of my emotional investment in a team that’s had to (relatively speaking) take a back seat as a result.

Not bothered about the attractive spectacle of the league and would rather United hoovered up every trophy going.

Incidentally, I like the principle of FFP, although think the execution has been a shambles.

I'd personally prefer to win as a result of being a very well managed and astute team, rather than by default because we had the best ever manager at a time when finances exploded in football.

If I were a Bayern fan I'd take little pleasure in winning by default. Our next Premier League title will certainly be worth 10 Bundesliga titles.

 

[mitchmouse]

All I know is that I would have hated United to have been owned by a company affiliated with a loathsome figure like Rupert Murdoch.

while I know where you are coming from, I always admit that he was the best employer I've ever had!

 

[Needham]

Murdoch would have been a disastrous owner. Always nearly fouling things up with that stupid cigar, constantly riling up Mr T. Can't believe a club like Utd even considered him.

 

[Rood]

Murdoch would have been a disastrous owner. Always nearly fouling things up with that stupid cigar, constantly riling up Mr T. Can't believe a club like Utd even considered him.

Well as far as I know, the club did not encourage his takeover attempt but we were a listed public company so anyone could make a bid

Although Murdoch's bid was rejected, this should have been a wake up call to United fans at the time that we were vulnerable to take over and the ideal scenario would have been for fans to buy up as many shares as possible to block any future hostile takeover as eventually happened with the Glazers. Now the club is worth far too much for the fans to ever have a meaningful stake.

 

[GBBQ]

Murdoch would have been a disastrous owner. Always nearly fouling things up with that stupid cigar, constantly riling up Mr T. Can't believe a club like Utd even considered him.

Imagine how many soldiers of fortune would attempt to join our A Team and our reserves. Face it, we'd have been damn fools to accept it.