Tornado Alley (PROG)

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Murdoch

Sun 05 May 2013, 8:30pm

[ very short video inside ]

Murdoch is a landmark two-part documentary series which tells the inside story of one of the most powerful and controversial media moguls on the planet.

"A story of love, scandal, money and reputation."

Friends, rivals, colleagues past and present – and the odd former Prime Minister – reveal how Rupert Murdoch built his global empire, starting with a single newspaper in 1950s Australia.

Murdoch tells of his ruthless expansion and deal-making: the billions he made – and lost, the reputations he built – and destroyed, in his never-ending quest to become the undisputed king of newspapers, Hollywood films and global television.

The series also casts a light on the private Murdoch; his relationships, marriages, king-making, strengths and very human flaws – and most recently his struggle to redeem himself and his company after the phone hacking scandal tore through the heart of his empire.

[ embedded automatically changing photo slide show ]

Part 1: Sunday May 5 at 8:30pm on SBS ONE

The first episode of Murdoch charts the evolution of a mogul. Murdoch had a cosseted education at his elite Australian boarding school and then under the romantic spires of Oxford University in England. The unexpected death of his father deprived him of what he saw as his birthright – the Herald and Weekly Times Group – the newspaper empire his father had built up, but did not actually own. Murdoch was determined never to work for anyone else – and to build his own print empire. He launched himself into the wild world of Australian newspapers – first in Adelaide, then in Sydney. He gave as good as he got - and survived.

In 1964, he launched Australia’s first national newspaper The Australian, and politicians sat up and took notice. Restless, he tackled the UK – and the British establishment, where he was dubbed ‘The Dirty Digger’ after the salacious scandals in his tabloids. Ostracised from polite society, Murdoch took his family across the Atlantic, where he launched his tabloids on an unsuspecting American public. He spent millions building a newspaper empire and used it to promote his political favorites to election victories. Mogul status was truly assured when he gave up his Australian citizenship and bought the 20th Century Fox movie studio in Hollywood during the 80s boom years.

Murdoch further charts the rise of Murdoch the 'Political Powerbroker'. He got his first taste of power in 1972, when he used his newspapers to help elect Gough Whitlam, the first Australian Labor Prime Minister for 23 years, only to turn violently against him three years later.

In the US, he threw his backing behind Ronald Reagan, but in the UK he found his ideological soul-mate in Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who in the 1980s was quick to lend her support – and her police forces – when Britain’s print unions raged on the streets when his new technology threatened their livelihoods. After tackling the print unions in the UK, he returned to Australia to achieve a dream he had nurtured for more than 30 years – finally snatching the Herald and Weekly Times Group and bringing it back into the family fold.

There seemed no stopping the upstart ‘outsider’ and his all-powerful News Corporation. Until one project, more ambitious and costly than any before, sent him to the brink of financial ruin.

Part 2: Sunday May 12 at 8:30pm on SBS ONE

Even his closest advisers doubted him, yet Rupert Murdoch was so convinced that his British satellite pay – TV channel ‘Sky’, would be a roaring success. He revealed to advisors that he bet his entire company on making it work. But it drove him into billions of debt and he very nearly lost his entire empire. Only after a year of begging the banks, did Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation come back from the brink of collapse.

Buoyed by the success of sports on Sky, he went to war with his big Australian rival – Kerry Packer – and tried to set up a rival Super-League. Years of trading insults and millions of dollars later, the two giants of Australian media were forced to call a truce. Undaunted, Murdoch, the 24/7 workaholic mogul, to the despair of his wife, spent the rest of the 90s spending more of his millions. He tried – and failed – to conquer China, misjudging and insulting the Communist leadership along the way. Western democracies appeared more welcoming. Political leaders in Australia and Britain fell over themselves to court him, desperate for his front page support come election day. Occupants of the White House paid close attention to his provocative right-wing Fox News, while he thrilled viewers with the edgy Simpsons cartoon phenomenon and wowed them with dizzying – and lucrative – sports coverage.

His third wife, nearly half his age, has given him a new lease of life – and two young daughters. But can even he survive the bombshell of the UK phone hacking scandal that has derailed his company – and his succession plans?

http://www.sbs.com.au/documentary/program/1212

.. should be a good one for any interested .. if you are able to get it .. a couple of entrees ..

Rupert Murdoch - Breaking the Spell (Documentary)

"For decades one man has wielded extraordinary power in Britain." .. "Murdoch had had this
complete control of the parliament, the government, and even, i'm sorry to say, the police"

Murdoch Reporters’ Phone-Hacking Was Endemic, Victimized Hundreds
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=54033869

John Pilger - Breaking the Mirror: The Murdoch Effect (1998)

See also:

Capitalism is killing our morals, our future
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=87480172

Everything you POST is a MURDOCH lie..wsj, the blade, wnd, fox and If I missed anything .. THAT TOO.
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=56530179&txt2find=murdoch

Lies, Damned Lies, and Rupert Murdoch
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=52385930