Tony Ball to step down as BSkyB Chief Executive

BSkyB Chief Executive Tony Ball has announced that he will not renew his service contract with the company.
Ball will continue as Chief Executive until a successor is appointed, which is likely to be well before his current contract ends on May 31 2004.
He will also resign as a Director of the company on a date to be determined on or before May 31 2004, although he will remain available to give advice and assistance to the company until the end of May 2004.
The Board of BSkyB have expressed their thanks to Ball for the outstanding operational and financial achievements under his leadership, since he joined the company in June 1999.
During that time subscriber numbers have doubled to almost 7 million and continue to grow, revenues have doubled to £3.19 billion, the transition to digital has been completed, the churn rate has fallen from 13.4% to 9.4%; and BSkyB has returned to profitability after a sustained period of investment in digital.
The BSkyB Board have agreed that the Nomination Committee, John Thornton, Allan Leighton and Gail Rebuck, chaired by Lord St John of Fawsley, should immediately commence a search for a Chief Executive.
Rupert Murdoch, Chairman of BSkyB, said: "Tony Ball has shown himself to be one of the outstanding businessmen in Britain. Under his leadership Sky has successfully brought digital TV to millions of British homes. The company now stands ready to reap the rewards of its investments.
"Tony leaves behind a talented group of executives and I am confident that they will continue to deliver fantastic results for all shareholders. I look forward to continuing an active association with Tony as a consultant to News Corporation across all of our television platforms."
Tony Ball added: "I have enjoyed my time at Sky enormously, and am very proud of the achievements of the whole team. I leave with many happy memories and a firm belief that the company is now well positioned to continue to deliver on its operational and financial targets. I look forward to helping to make the transition to a new Chief Executive as seamless as possible."
(GB)