Former News International boss to head Virgin Media
Former News International boss Tom Mockridge has been appointed Chief Executive of UK cable TV provider Virgin Media.
Former News International boss Tom Mockridge has been appointed Chief Executive of UK cable TV provider Virgin Media.
The move will put Mockridge in direct competition with BskyB - which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., the parent company of News International.
Mockridge left the company that publishes UK newspapers The Sun and The Times after he failed to win the job as Chief Executive of New News Corp.
New News Corp. is a publishing group being created after News Corp.'s planned split into two companies.
"Life brings you some forks in the road and some opportunities," Mockridge told the Financial Times.
"I feel much more positive about being in this sector. It feels good to be in a marketplace that has a lot of growth potential."
Mockridge, who spent almost 22 years at News Corp., will return to pay TV after having run Sky Italia from 2003 to 2011. He was also Non-Executive Director of BSkyB from February 2009 and was its Deputy Chairman between April 2012 and January 2013.
He began his career at News Corp.'s Australian newspapers. After eight years at Sky Italia, he was brought in by Murdoch to stabilise News International after the company was rocked by a phone-hacking scandal.
When the New Zealander steps into his new role, he will report to Mark Fries, President and Chief Executive of Liberty Global which is acquiring Virgin Media for $23.3bn.
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