MUMBAI: In a major setback for Rupert Murdoch, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the British Parliament which is probing the phone hacking scandal at News International has ruled that the News Corp chief is ?unfit? to lead the company.

The committee in its report to the Parliament accused the media tycoon of "wilful blindness" by deliberately covering up evidence of phone hacking at his UK publishing business which eventually led to the closure of 168 year old News of the World news paper.

"On the basis of the facts and evidence before the Committee, we conclude that, if at all relevant times Rupert Murdoch did not take steps to become fully informed about phone-hacking, he turned a blind eye and exhibited wilful blindness to what was going on in his companies and publications.

"This culture, we consider, permeated from the top throughout the organisation and speaks volumes about the lack of effective corporate governance at News Corporation and News International. We conclude, therefore, that Rupert Murdoch is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company," the committe said in the conclusion of its report.

Rupert Murdoch and his son James Murdoch had last week laid the blame of phone hacking on subordinates, insisting that they were unaware of the wrong doing at the News of the World.

According to reports, the verdict has divided political parties in Britian with Labour Party panel member Tom Watson saying the decision had not been unanimous, and Conservative lawmaker Louise Mensch saying the split had been along party lines.

In a press statement, News Corp.regretted the committee?s tough language terming them as regretful and partisan.

"Hard truths have emerged from the Select Committee Report: that there was serious wrongdoing at the News of the World; that our response to the wrongdoing was too slow and too defensive; and that some of our employees misled the Select Committee in 2009," the statement read.

"News Corporation regrets, however, that the Select Committee?s analysis of the factual record was followed by some commentary that we, and indeed several members of the committee, consider unjustified and highly partisan. These remarks divided the members along party lines.

"We have already confronted and have acted on the failings documented in the Report: we have conducted internal reviews of operations at newspapers in the United Kingdom and indeed around the world, far beyond anything asked of us by the Metropolitan Police; we have volunteered any evidence of apparent wrongdoing to the authorities; and, we have instituted sweeping changes in our internal controls and our compliance programs on a world-wide basis, to help ensure that nothing like this ever happens again anywhere at News Corporation.

"As we move forward, our goal is to make certain that in every corner of the globe, our company acts in a manner of which our 50,000 employees and hundreds of thousands of shareholders can be justly proud."

Meanwhile, satellite broadcaster BSkyB, which is part owned by News Corp, has asserted that is a ?fit and proper? licence holder and was engaging with the regulator Ofcom in its assessment of BSkyB?s suitability.

Ofcom is reviewing whether Rupert and James Murdoch are ?fit and proper? to hold a broadcast licence following charges of phone hacking.

MUMBAI: James Murdoch, the scion of media empire News Corporation, has distanced himself from the phone hacking scandal at UK publishing business News International by putting the blame on his subordinates who he alleged misled him on the goings-on at the now defunct News of the World tabloid.

Speaking under oath at Lord Justice Brian Leveson?s inquiry into media ethics, Murdoch alleged that the tabloid?s then-editor Colin Myler and the company?s former in-house lawyer Tom Crone misled him about the illegal activities at the tabloid.

According to Associated Press, Leveson asked Murdoch: "Can you think of a reason why Mr. Myler or Mr. Crone should keep this information from you? Was your relationship with them such that they may think: ?Well we needn?t bother him with that? or ?We better keep it from it because he?ll ask to cut out the cancer??"

"That must be it," Murdoch said. "I would say: ?Cut out the cancer,? and there was some desire to not do that."

The News Corp has been at the centre of scandal ever since it came to light that reporters at the News of the World hacked into the phones of hundreds of high-profile people, including a teenage murder victim.

The emergence of the scandal led News International to shut 168 year old News of the World on 7 July last year leading to a loss of 200 jobs.

For News Corp the implications of hacking scandal ran beyond News International as the move to up stake in UK broadcasting business BSkyB proved futile even after it got culture minister?s Jeremy Hunt to gobble up the remaining 61 per cent of Sky for ?8 billion.

Murdoch also denied the charge The Sun newspaper endorsed the Tories? election bid saying, "I would never have made that kind of a crass calculation," Murdoch said. "It just wouldn?t occur to me".

Rupert Murdoch, who is still chairman and chief executive of News International?s parent company News Corp, is scheduled to appear before the inquiry on Wednesday, AP reported.

Earlier, James Murdoch had to step down as the chairman of BSkyB, while continuing to remain on BSkyB?s board as a non-executive director. In February the Jr Murdoch stepped down as executive chairman of News International.

To firewall him from the likely impact of the scandal, News Corp had relocated him to New York headquarters as the deputy COO of the parent company.

Jr. Murdoch had last month further cut off all remaining ties with News International, the UK publishing business of News Corp, by resigning from the boards of Times Newspaper Holdings; News Corp Investments; and News International Publishers Limited.

The British media regulator Ofcom is already evaluating whether James Murdoch is ?fit and proper? to hold a broadcast licence on behalf of BSkyB. The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee?s report into allegations of phone hacking by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, in a related development the judge Brian Leveson said British Sky Broadcasting?s Sky News channel breached criminal law by hacking into e-mails for a story, even though the investigation applied to a case on a man who faked his own death to collect insurance money.

"What you were doing wasn?t just invading somebody?s privacy, it was breaching the criminal law," Leveson said during testimony by Sky News chief John Ryley. "At the end of the day you committed a crime."

Media regulator Ofcom said on Monday it started a probe of Sky News over the e-mail hacking incident.

BSkyB said earlier this month executives at Sky News cleared a reporter to access e-mails as part of his investigations into criminal activity, including the 2008 case of a British couple who faked the husband?s death in a canoe accident to collect life and mortgage insurance.

MUMBAI: Pursuing a vertically integrated model, Eros International Plc is planning to take full control of B4U Television Network by acquiring the remaining 76 per cent stake for a cash and share consideration of $53.1 million (Rs 2.8 billion).

Eros already owns 24 per cent in B4U, the global Bollywood network that runs two channels. B4U Music and B4U Movies are available in more than 100 countries, including India, the UK, the US, Canada and countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Eros anticipates ?entering into a definitive agreement on or after 24 April to acquire control of B4U. The TV broadcast company is currently controlled by steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal and London-based industrialist Gokul Binani.

Eros International chairman and CEO Kishore Lulla said, ?We are delighted to announce our anticipated acquisition of the remaining 76 per cent of B4U. We expect that B4U?s global network, as well as its film and music content, will complement Eros? existing product offering."

The share payments may alternatively be made in cash at Eros? option.

Eros saidTuesday that the aggregate purchase price will consist of:

• B4U?s cash on hand net of all B4U?s outstanding bank loans and overdrafts (a net amount of up to $19.3 million) to be paid in cash on closing;
• Approximately $5.7 million in Eros A ordinary shares upon the earlier of 14 business days from the listing of Eros A ordinary shares on the NYSE or 30 days after closing (or, if the listing of Eros A ordinary shares on the NYSE occurs 14 business days prior to closing, at closing);
• Approximately $19.3 million (less the consideration in cash paid at closing) in cash and approximately $10.4 million in our A ordinary shares or cash, at the option of Eros, on the first anniversary of the closing of the acquisition; and
• Approximately $7.3 million in cash and approximately $10.4 million in our A ordinary shares or cash, at the option of Eros, on the second anniversary of the closing of the acquisition.
   

The deadline to close the transaction is approximately 120 days from the date of the definitive agreement unless mutually agreed to be extended.

Eros said that though it holds approximately 24 per cent of B4U, it has not exercised significant influence over the company.

Eros cautioned that the pending acquisition of B4U remains subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals, and may not occur on the expected terms or at all.

For the financial year ended 31 March 2011, B4U?s net income was $2.5 million and net assets were $28.7 million. B4U generates the majority of its revenues internationally, predominantly through fees earned from being a part of a cable or satellite service provider?s subscription package, and within India from advertising. Eros said that the company expects B4U to benefit from expanding international coverage and growing television advertising spend in India.

MUMBAI: It was a day of double whammy for media conglomerate News Corp as British lawyer Mark Lewis, who has been pursuing the phone hacking scandal, said that he planned to take the case to United States, the centre of Murdoch?s global media empire.

However, the bigger threat for Murdoch comes from a British Parliamentary report into a phone hacking scandal which may lead eventually to News Corp being forced into cutting or selling its stake in the highly profitable pay-TV firm BSkyB, according to newswire Reuters.

Lewis said he would take legal action on behalf of three people which includes two sportsperson and an American citizen.

?The News of the World had thousands of people they hacked. Some of them were in America at the time, either traveling or resident there," he said.

Lewis?s clients also include the family of Milly Dowler, an abducted teenager who was murdered in 2002, and whose voice mail was said to have been hacked after she disappeared.

Coming back to the Parliamentary panel?s report on the hacking scandal, the Reuters report says that the Parliament?s culture committee is widely expected to criticise News Corp in its long-awaited report.

The report also says that the panel?s criticism could raise possibilities that the British broadcast watchdog Ofcom will take action against Rupert Murdoch?s media conglomerate.

The culture select committee could publish its findings and recommendations into the scandal by the end of April to which the government must respond within two months.

Ofcom is already conducting its own investigation into News Corp and BSkyB?s directors to ensure that directors of TV companies are "fit and proper" to hold a broadcast licence.

Earlier this month, James Murdoch had stepped down as the chairman of BSkyB. However, he continues to remain a board member. In February, the Jr Murdoch had stepped down as executive chairman of News International that is being probed by UK authorities for phone hacking surrounding its now defunct News of the World paper.

MUMBAI: Television format creator and distributor Endemol has sold Zeppotron?s satirical drama ?Black Mirror? to 21 territories.

Endemol Worldwide Distribution (EWD) holds global television distribution rights and has closed deals with SBS Australia, Hot Vision Israel, SVT Sweden and both Turner and Mediaset in Spain.

EWD is also finalising a pan regional deal in Central and Eastern Europe which will see Black Mirror broadcast in 15 CIS territories including Poland, Czech Republic and Hungary. A further commission in China is in the final stages of negotiation.

Zeppotron executive producer, MD Annabel Jones said; ? ?Black Mirror? is a contemporary drama which taps into our unease with the modern world. Each stand alone episode explores our relationship with technology and our thirst for constant distraction and entertainment. The series was extremely well received here in the UK and I think audiences everywhere will relate to the dark, satirical storytelling at the heart of each episode.?

?Black Mirror? was created by Charlie Brooker and produced by Zeppotron for Channel 4 in the UK. The three standalone dramas are suspenseful tales with a techno-paranoia bent. Some are comic while some are shocking.

Endemol Worldwide Distribution CEO Cathy Payne said, ?It is testament to the international appeal of Black Mirror that so many deals have been struck ahead of its launch at MIP TV. This is a high quality mini series with brilliantly written scripts and an exceptional cast. Each suspenseful episode is packed with observations on modern life that are relevant to audiences anywhere in the world.?