James Murdoch was re-elected to the board of BSkyB on Thursday, ensuring his family's media empire retains a direct influence at Britain's biggest pay-TV company despite being weakened by a phone hacking scandal. James Murdoch, forced to quit as BSkyB chairman in April over his role in the scandal at his father Rupert's News Corp, was re-elected as a BSkyB director with around 95-percent support in a shareholder vote at an annual meeting.
The re-appointment came after BSkyB, which is 39-percent-owned by News Corp, posted strong first-quarter earnings growth, with price rises and the sale of additional products to subscribers reassuring investors who had feared a slowdown.The solid operating performance, the price rise and a share buyback programme lifted earnings per share 16 percent to 13.4 pence, while revenue climbed 4 percent to 1.7 billion pounds and adjusted operating profit rose 5 percent to 310 million pounds.