Company Watch - BSkyB :: Business and Management Studies

Company Watch - B flip-flopBCOMPANY WATCHThe company that I pretend chosen that is in the Ftse 100 is B cast awayB andthe rival company to BSkyB that I have chosen is Cable & Wireless (C &W). I will be monitoring these companies over four weeks and recordingand analysing their share prices as well as the Ftse 100. I will beusing The Times newspaper to obtain share prices and careinformation regarding the companies and the Ftse.HISTORY OF BSKYBIn 1989 Sky introduced satellite television to the UK with fourchannels. By 1990 sky reached one billion homes and merged withBritish Satellite transmit (BSB) to form BSkyB. In 1991 Sky andBSB streamline their channels into five separate channels. Between1992 and 1993 BSkyB secures exclusive rights to live FA Premier Leaguefootball coverage and Sky Multi-Channels launch with a package of 14channels at basic subscription level. In 1994 five more channels areintroduced and Sky announces 13 million investment in British filmsincluding a major output deal with British Screen. Also in 1994 17% ofBSkyB is floated on the UK and US Stock Exchanges.By 1995 BSkyB enters the FTSE 100 index, six more channels are addedand subscribers exceed five million. In 1996 BSkyB secure a contractfor FA Premier league football until 2001 season. In 1998 Sky digitallaunches offering 140 channels. More than 100,000 decoders are sold inthe first 30 days.In 1999 BSkyB enters the list of worlds top 250 companies. Also Skydigital is the fastest growing digital platform in Europe acquiringover 1.2 million subscribers in just 10 months and free baffle topdigital box offer increases subscribers. In 2000 Sky receives GoldAward for outstanding contribution to television at the RoyalTelevision companionship Programme Awards and digital subscribers grow to 3million.In 2001 BSkyB reaches its target of 5 million subscribers and switchesoff its analogue signal, BSkyB also launch Sky +, Europes first fullintegrated personal television recorder. By now in 2 002 Sky digitalnow reaches 5.7 million households which is a quarter of all Britishhomes and has a target of 7 million digital subscribers by the end of2003. For the first time, more people are watching multichanneltelevision than the five traditional normal service channels.HOW BSKYB HAS FARED OVER 4 WEEK PERIODArticles Concerning BSkyBOver this period the main articles for BSkyB in the news were thatDawn Airey will become the managing director of BskyB, beingness paid 1million a year. Dawn Airey formerly work as the Channel Five chiefexecutive but was seemingly connective the ITV network but was snatched