Bsb vs Sky Television

BSB vs. Sky Informal Writeup

BA 453

1. Could BSB have made the UK market less attractive for Murdoch to enter? If so, how?

* BSB could have been more aggressive in acquiring exclusive access to popular cable studios such as Warner, Orion, Touchstone, and Disney. This would have created an additional entry barrier for Murdoch and News Corporation since many of the popular independent studios would already be tied up in exclusive contracts with BSB.

* Before the launch of Astra, BSB’s Lazard Brothers did not view Sky Television as a legitimate threat/rival when the first round of fundraising was happening for the company. They did not believe that Astra was physically large or technologically advanced enough to power a network that panned over Europe, therefore discounting Sky Television as only as technology and not a direct competitor in the industry. If BSB did not discount Murdoch and his television network before their launch in 19

* BSB’s original target launch was set for September 1989, but unfortunately launched over a half a year later in April 1990. On the other side, Sky Television did not miss their target launch of February 1990, resulting in an efficient timetable for Astra to launch and to dominate the market for a period of time before BSB. If BSB was able to launch its product into the market on its original target date, it would have made Murdoch and Sky Television more uncomfortable to enter the UK market due to such a viable and strong competitor.

2. What should BSB do in 1990? Be as specific and quantitative as possible.

* Cut back on annual marketing and promotion expenditures through 1992. BSB needs its marketing and promotion expenditures to be growing proportionally with its sales. Even with such heavy advertising, there were shortages of receiving equipment and were installing only about 18.5% of what Sky was installing by the end of October 1990. Decreasing its marketing and promotional...