BRANDS WERE 'QUAKING' ABOUT HACKING SCANDAL - How will the News of the World hacking scandal affect News Corp's desire to bid for the 61% of BSkyB it doesn't already own? Is that ambition in tatters or does the closure of News Corp's toxic asset improve the prospects?
In March, the British government provisionally approved the deal - which was not referred to the UK's competition authority but the Culture Secretary, who was happy with News Corp undertakings on the deal.
Analyst Richard Hunter of Hargreaves Lansdowne in London says Rupert Murdoch's move to close the News of the World has probably improved the prospects for the proposed BSkyB takeover.
Mr Hunter says that In the overall scheme of things, the News of the World issue was more of a reputational than a financial issue for News Corp. He said the closure would help the general perception of News Corp.
Brands have played a big role in the story. In the space of about 12 hours, Britain's biggest advertising accounts - led by Ford, but joined by the Halifax, Specsavers, utilities and supermarkets - were pulling out of News of the World.
Noelle McElhatton, editor of Marketing Magazine in London, said brands were 'quaking' about being associated with the News of the World.
She also said social media sites were 'game-changers' for brands, as people who stopped buying certain brands were now going online and tell all their friends about it.
Ms McElhatton quoted a senior Unilever executive as recently saying that if consumers can bring down regimes in EGypt and Tunisia, then they could bring down brands in nano-seconds
She said, however, that the News of the World would return in some form
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