Sky

British Sky Broadcasting Group plc is a satellite broadcasting, broadband and telephone services company headquartered in London, with operations in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Formed in 1990 by the equal merger of Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting, BSkyB is the largest pay-TV broadcaster in the UK and Ireland with over 10 million subscribers.BSkyB is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It had a market capitalization of approximately £14.32 billion as of 30 September 2013 on the London Stock Exchange. 21st Century Fox owns a 39.14 per cent controlling stake in the company.HistoryBritish Sky Broadcasting was formed by the merger of Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting on 2 November 1990. Both companies had begun to struggle financially and were both suffering financial losses as both competed against each other for viewers. The Guardian later characterized the merger as 'effectively a takeover by News Corporation'.The merger was investigated by Office of Fair Trading but was cleared a month later since many of the represented views were more concerned about contractual arrangements which had nothing to do with competition. The Independent Broadcasting Authority was not consulted about the deal; after approval, the IBA demanded precise details about the merger, stated they were considering the repercussions of the deal to ultimately determine whether BSB contracts were null and void. On 17 November, the IBA decided to terminate BSB's contract, but not immediately, as it was deemed unfair to 120,000 viewers who had bought BSB devices.