Sky high - Mathew Horsman

The fascinating story of the rise and rise of BskyB, 1 of the major corporate success stories of the decade. Every second of every minute of every hour of every day, BskyB, the UK's largest pay-TV company, racks up 8 pounds in profit more than any other UK broadcaster. Every Hollywood studio sells it's vast output exclusively to BskyB for broadcast on subscription TV. Only Sky subscribers can watch live Premier league matches. BskyB may still be 3rd after the BBC and ITV in terms of revenues, but is growing at an incredible rate. In 1996, Sky's revenues topped 1 billion pound. And that's before you start counting the likely profits from digital TV, with it's promise of 200 channels of programming, interactive banking, home shopping and easy access to the internet. In Sky high , Matthew Horsman provides a lively and detailed account of the rise and rise of BskyB, 1 of the major corporate success stories of the decade. From a highly indebted fledgling company in the mid 1980's, haemorrhaging freely, to the 1 billion pound behemoth of today, the story is as much about the changing face of TV as it is about 1 corporation. It is about how Britain went from just 4 channels to 50.;It is about Australian soaps, cop shows and bad US dramas. It is about television without frontiers, deregulation, money and power. And it is, above all, about the people, the outsized egos, the highly paid managers and their rows and stratagems - from Sam Chisholm to Gerry Robinson, David Chance, Liz Murdoch, Trevor East and ultimately to Rupert Murdoch himself. The story of BskyB is the story of an industry, management team, new technologies, even new social forces.