American Sky Broadcasting

In a development that promises to vastly reduce the cost to consumers of satellite television, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. plans to acquire a 50% stake in EchoStar Communications Corp. for $1 billion in cash and assets to form a new U.S. satellite-television broadcaster. The companies said they will invest $2.5 billion over the next 18 months and offer a new direct-broadcast satellite service called Sky.

In a development that promises to vastly reduce the cost to consumers of satellite television, Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. plans to acquire a 50% stake in EchoStar Communications Corp. for $1 billion in cash and assets to form a new U.S. satellite-television broadcaster. The companies said they will invest $2.5 billion over the next 18 months and offer a new direct-broadcast satellite service called Sky.

MCI, News Corp. to Build Satellite Broadcast Center: Two joint ventures of the nation's No. 2 long-distance telephone company and Australia's News Corp. said they plan to build a $130-million advanced satellite and data uplink facility and broadcast operations center in the Phoenix area. American Sky Broadcasting and SkyMCI, both joint ventures of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. and Washington, D.C.-based MCI, were formed in April to provide multimedia direct satellite services.

Walt Disney Co. named ABC Television Network president and former News Corp. lobbyist Preston Padden head of government relations. Padden will report to Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Eisner and handle the company's dealings with the federal government. Disney didn't immediately name a replacement. Padden joined ABC in May 1997 to take charge of ABC's advertising sales, affiliate relations and operations departments. He also lobbied the government on behalf of the network.

News Corp. has appointed David Evans executive vice president of the office of the chairman, a newly created position to coordinate the company's worldwide satellite TV operations. Evans, who has been president and chief operating officer of Fox Television for the last two years, will oversee News Corp.'s satellite ventures in Asia, Japan, Britain, Australia, Latin America and the United States.

Preston Padden has joined ABC Inc. as president of the television network, less than a month after leaving News Corp., where he was the head of American Sky Broadcasting, the company's beleaguered satellite TV venture. Padden fills the post vacated by David Westin, who recently was named president of ABC News when Roone Arledge was promoted to chairman. Padden said he will take a more active role than Westin did in ABC's Washington lobbying efforts. Padden, a seven-year veteran of News Corp.

News Corp. has named Preston Padden chairman and chief executive of the new satellite TV venture it has formed with MCI Communications Corp. and hired Fox alum Lana Corbi to take his place as head of affiliate relations for Fox Broadcasting. Padden built Fox's distribution system to its current 201 stations and oversaw founder Rupert Murdoch's extensive Washington lobbying efforts.

British Telecommunications on Sunday announced its agreement to buy MCI Communications Inc. in the largest-ever foreign takeover of an American firm, a $24.7-billion transaction that the two partners promised would reward telephone users worldwide with better service and lower prices. The takeover, if approved by regulators, would create a new company named Concert with headquarters in London and Washington, D.C.

In a blow to Rupert Murdoch's once-ambitious plans to enter the U.S. satellite television market, Primestar Inc. has abandoned its $1.1-billion acquisition of a valuable orbital slot from American Sky Broadcasting, a joint venture between Murdoch's News Corp. and MCI Communications Corp. Sources said News Corp. now is negotiating to sell the satellite slot to the dominant satellite service, DirecTV, which is owned by Hughes Electronics. DirecTV could not be reached for comment.

EchoStar Communications Corp. will buy the satellite television assets of News Corp. and MCI WorldCom Inc. for $1.05 billion in stock, enabling EchoStar to transmit more than 500 channels with the new licenses and satellites. News Corp. and MCI WorldCom will exchange satellite transmission licenses, two satellites, a satellite broadcast facility and other assets for a 37% stake in EchoStar, the No. 3 U.S. satellite TV provider. News Corp.

In the latest consolidation of the nation's satellite television business, DirecTV has agreed to acquire its partner United States Satellite Broadcasting Co. in a stock and cash transaction valued at about $1.3 billion. The deal, long considered inevitable by Wall Street, is expected to strengthen DirecTV's lead in the satellite television business at a time when the El Segundo-based company faces increasing pressure from its chief rival, EchoStar Communications Corp. of Englewood, Colo.