There is speculation too Kirch may offer a ‘substantial’ stake in its German TV business to News Corp in order to honour the put option that BSkyB has over Kirch (see
Murdoch In ‘Make Or Break’ Talks Over Kirch). BSkyB said recently that it was not expecting to recoup any revenue from Kirch and a write down of almost £1 billion was included in the groups recent results (see
BSkyB Growth Beats Expectations). BSkyB chief executive Tony Ball said recently: “We’re not putting a penny more into KirchPayTV… This business doesn’t work. The best way forward is the put [option]”, which suggests that a deal between the two companies is unlikely.
Kirch also owns the broadcast rights for the next two world cups in 2002 and 2006, for which it is widely considered the group over paid. The deal brokered with BBC and ITV for both competitions is thought to amount to around the same price as Kirch had hoped to recoup in 2002 alone.
