Sky Networks’ general manager Bruce Steinberg last week became the
third senior executive to leave BSkyB in the last four months.
According to a statement from Sky, Steinberg, who was Elisabeth
Murdoch’s number two, ’left to pursue other opportunities’.
He will retain a consultative role in the company.
His departure follows those of Mark Booth, who quit in June for a
lucrative job running E-partners, News Corporation’s internet venture,
and Ian West, who was head of entertainment and quit in August after a
row over the renewal of his contract.
Steinberg was responsible for the launch of Sky’s Near-Video-On-Demand
service and the cable distribution of Sky’s channels. He was also
responsible for the recent re-branding of the movie channels. There have
been suggestions that the movie channel relaunch did not meet with the
approval of chief executive Tony Ball.
It was also announced this week that Peter Chernin, the chief operating
officer of News Corporation and the expected successor to Rupert
Murdoch, has been appointed to the board of E*Trade, further evidence of
the increasing enthusiasm for the internet within the corporation.
