JANUARY 8, 2008

NewsCorp buys into German F1 broadcaster

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has acquired a 14.58% stake in German Pay-TV broadcaster Premiere, making it the company's biggest single shareholder. The deal is reported to have been worth $422m to Unitymedia, Germany's second largest cable-based service provider, which bought 16.6% of Premiere last year as part of a deal involving the Bundesliga soccer organisation. The move has fuelled speculation that News Corporation may make a bid for control of Premiere, which has held some of the rights to broadcast F1 in Germany in recent years alongside the major deal that exists between Formula One Management and RTL.