British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC, James Murdoch re-elected as Chairman of the Group

British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC chairman James Murdoch was re-elected on 29 November 2011 in the company’s annual general meeting. He was re-elected to the position of chairman though he faced a powerful protest vote from the satellite-TV company's independent shareholders. News Corp., run by James's father, Rupert Murdoch, owns 39.1% of BSkyB.

British Sky Broadcasting Group comprises film and television production as well as newspaper publishing and other activities.

Accounting for all votes cast, Murdoch was supported by 76.9% of shareholders, while 17.8% opposed him and 7.3% of votes cast were withheld. 31.4% of votes were cast against the Murdoch at BSkyB's annual meeting in London, while 12.9% were withheld. That effectively amounts to a protest vote in which more than 44% of the voted independent shares withheld their support from James Murdoch.

He won re-election primarily because the Murdoch family and Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal together control nearly half the voting shares.

The Scandal

News Corporation, parent company of News International, owns 39 per cent of BSkyB and its multi-million pound bid to acquire the remaining 61 per cent was derailed earlier in 2011 by the hacking controversy. News Corp, which owns 39 per cent of BSkyB, is also the parent company of News International (NI), of which Murdoch is the chairman.

Key shareholders had voted against James Murdoch because of his links with the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

The News of the World had allegedly resorted to  phone hacking and other illegal or unethical reporting tactics. U.K. police is currently probing the phone hacking and other wrongdoing related to the News of the World.