MEDIA: News Corp drops BSkyB bid

News Corporation said Monday it was continuing its bid to purchase satellite TV company British Sky Broadcasting despite heightened political heat Rupert Murdoch's media empire faces stemming from the British phone hacking scandal.

News Corp. -- Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate -- ended its bid to purchase British Sky Broadcasting, following days intense pressure from the British public and politicians over the growing British phone hacking scandal.

News Corp. has withdrawn its bid for British Sky Broadcasting PLC after it was delayed for several months amid a growing phone hacking scandal engulfing the media giant owned by Rupert Murdoch.

The Mole submits: This morning in Europe the big story is the bid by Rupert Murdoch’s News International (NWS) for the remainder of BSkyB (BSY). The stock is up 20%.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch dramatically dropped his bid for control of pay-TV giant BSkyB, bowing to pressure from the British government over the phone-hacking firestorm at his newspaper empire.Just hours before Britain's political parties backed a parliamentary motion urging Murdoch to abandon his long-cherished takeover, his News Corp. conceded Wednesday it was now "too difficult to progress in this climate".

Rupert Murdoch's son remains chairman of British Sky Broadcasting despite questions about his handling of the phone-hacking scandal.James Murdoch cleared the first hurdle in his bid to hold onto power in his father Rupert's company, News Corp., when he was retained as head of Britain's largest pay-TV provider despite questions about his handling of the phone-hacking scandal that has engulfed the media empire.

LONDON (Reuters) - A British parliamentary report into a phone hacking scandal may lead eventually to News Corp being forced into cutting or selling its stake in the highly profitable pay-TV firm BSkyB, having already dropped its bid to buy it outright last year. Parliament's culture committee is widely expected to criticize News Corp in its long-awaited report, raising the possibility that the British broadcast watchdog Ofcom will take action against Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate. ...