As the tidal wave of comment on phone-hacking at the News of the World gradually recedes, there is a real danger that BSkyB, the UK’s biggest television company, is left stranded on the shore. BSkyB matters. Although it does not pull its weight in commissioning original programmes, relying almost entirely on Rupert Murdoch’s “twin battering rams” of sports and movies, its economic importance is undeniable. Its annual revenues of over £6bn outstrip the combined income of the BBC and ITV. And it recently passed its bold objective of 10m subscribers.
隨著圍繞《世界新聞報》(News of the World)電話竊聽風波的評論浪潮逐漸消退，一個切實的危險是，英國天空廣播公司(BSkyB)可能會擱淺在岸上。作爲英國最大的電視公司，BSkyB具有舉足輕重的作用。雖然它在委託製作原創節目方面沒有發揮出應有的作用，而幾乎完全依賴於魯柏•梅鐸(Rupert Murdoch)的「兩把板斧」，即體育和電影節目，但其經濟重要性是不容否認的。BSkyB的年收入在60億英鎊以上，超過英國廣播公司(BBC)和英國獨立電視臺(ITV)兩家之和，而且最近剛剛實現了用戶突破1000萬的大膽目標。