Rupert Murdoch has recorded a 45-minute interview talking for the first time in detail on television about how he has changed the face of British football.
The media mogul’s thoughts will form the centrepiece of an hour-long programme called How TV Changed Football Forever, which has been made by Victor Lewis-Smith’s independent production company Associated Rediffusion for Sky One which will be shown in the next couple of weeks.
“He has a lot to say – including some very very punchy things about the BBC which will have some people in the corporation really squirming,” The Guardian reported a production source as saying.
It is thought to have been the first time the chairman and chief executive of News Corporation has spoken at length about the impact of his Sky empire on football, which he has flooded with cash since Sky Sportsbegan to buy exclusive live rights to the Premiership since its first season in 1992.
From the beginning of the next football season, when a new TV rights contract begins in August, Sky Sports will be sharing Premiership matches with Irish pay-TV operator Setanta, while broadband highlights will be available free of charge on Virgin Media.