Future Publishing’s Classic Rock and Metal Hammer magazine brands have been sold to a new company called TeamRock headed by former GMG Radio chief executive John Myers. The £10.2m sale includes Future magazines’ two brand extensions such as ‘The Golden Gods’ and ‘The Classic Rock Roll of Honour’ and associated periodicals Prog and AOR. John Myers is the executive chairman of TeamRock, which will create and distribute content to cater needs of…

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation has reported to have earned more than double the profits in its latest quarter over the same period previous year, largely attributed to the acquisition of stakes in cable networks in Australia and Asia. The media empire’s net income for the three months to December came in at $2.38bn (£1.52bn) compared to $1.1bn (£0.70bn) in the same period a year earlier, on sales up 5% to $9.4bn (£6bn)….

Virgin Media has found a suitable buyer for itself in a cash and stock deal worth $23.3bn (£15bn) from US billionaire John Malone’s cable group, Liberty Global, which will be offering $47.87 (£30.57) per share, in an effort to create the UK’s second biggest pay-TV business after BSkyB. The Virgin Media-Liberty Global deal, which is yet to garner shareholders’ support and regulatory approval, will place John Malone very close to Rupert Murdoch, whose media empire owns…

ITV has acquired controlling stake of 61.5% in US-based Gurney Productions for $40m (£24.7m), in a deal with an overall value of $111m (£68m) for expansion into the US. ITV share price hit a high note with 108.64p this morning, for the first time in five years, with the announcement of the deal. The UK broadcasting company said the ITV-Gurney deal would reach its overall value after it acquires the remaining…

Latest James Murdoch news is that he has been re-elected as director of BskyB with the backing of 95% of shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting. No repeat telecast of last year’s rebellion over his gross mishandling of the News of the World phone-hacking scandal occurred this time. Strangely, James Murdoch’s re-appointment was opposed by just 4.96% of the company shareholders who voted, with one investor John Marshall calling him as “toxic”, and saying that his presence…

The phone hacking scandal refuses to die down as it spreads further from the Rupert Murdoch-owned News International to the Daily Mirror and The People tabloid newspapers now, as four individuals issued High Court claims against the these publications on Monday. One of the claimants in the case is former England football manager Sven-Göran Eriksson, who has pushed a case against the Daily Mirror, alleging the Daily Mirror to be…

Trinity Mirror, the newspaper publisher, has announced the unification of two of its divisions- Regionals and Nationals under one management structure, headed by new COO Mark Hollinshead, under its cost-cutting measures. Trinity Mirror, which has been suffering from falling advertising and circulation revenues, said that the move would ensure that editorial, advertising and support functions would operate as effectively as possible across the print and digital operations. Trinity Mirror added…

Rupert Murdoch is facing a massive challenge as his NewsCorp investors have revolted against him, in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal, asking him to step down as the chairman, ahead of the media company’s annual meeting this month. In a shocking twist on Wednesday, UK fund manager Hermes has joined the rest of the shareholders in demanding the ousting of Rupert Murdoch and calling for an independent chairman to…

Media regulator Ofcom has deemed broadcasting company British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) to be “fit and proper” to operate with its broadcasting licence, after its parent company News International got mixed up in the phone-hacking scandal. Ofcom carried out an investigation on BSkyB after News International was forced to close down News of the World owing to the scandal. Although, Ofcom found BSkyB to be fit to be operative, it criticised BSkyB’s former chairman…

Debt-ridden newspaper group Trinity Mirror has a new boss in HMV’s ex- chief executive Simon Fox, who has agreed to step in Sly Bailey’s shoes with a salary that is one-third of the predecessor. Simon Fox had a controversial six-year stint at HMV and has little experience regarding newspapers, which raise doubts about his leadership skills as the Daily Mirror owner. Dismissing such fears, Trinity chairman David Grigson pointed out…