Murdoch's son takes seat on BSkyB board

Rupert Murdoch has boosted his family's presence on the board of the UK's largest pay TV broadcaster by appointing his son James as non-executive director.

The move will infuriate the large group of BSkyB investors who voted against re-electing five non-executives at last year's annual general meeting in protest at the lack of genuinely independent directors.

About 15% of voting shareholders expressed their concern about the lack of directors' independence at the November annual general meeting.

James Murdoch, 30, is already a board member at his father's News Corporation empire, which owns 36% of BSkyB.

He is also chairman and chief executive of Star TV, News Corp's Asian pay TV service and his father's bridgehead into the potentially lucrative Chinese broadcasting market.

Lachlan Murdoch, James' 31-year-old brother and deputy chief operating officer at News Corp, has been designated heir-apparent by his father.

However, the appointment of James Murdoch has resulted in the departure from the BSkyB board of Leslie Hinton, the executive chairman of Mr Murdoch's News International newspapers, which include the Sun and the Times.

Renowned as the most powerful newspaper executive in the country, Mr Hinton joined BSkyB as a non-executive in October 1999. He retains his position on News Corporation's executive management committee.

Martin Pompadur, head of News Corp's European operations, has also quit the BSkyB board.

Other new appointments to the BSkyB board announced this morning are Chase Carey, a non-executive director at News Corporation, and Lord Wilson of Ditton, former head of the home civil service.

Meanwhile, the former Sun editor David Yelland is to take the post of senior vice-president in the office of the News Corp chairman, Rupert Murdoch.

He will advise Mr Murdoch and Lachlan, who oversees News Corp's newspaper interests, on publishing strategy and expansion of titles. Mr Yelland will be based in News Corp's New York office.

Mr Yelland was last month replaced as editor of the Sun, Mr Murdoch's favourite newspaper, when rising star Rebekah Wade took over.

While the appointment of James Murdoch will undermine BSkyB's consistent arguments that it is not a Murdoch-controlled operation, the company satisifies the demands of the recent Higgs report on corporate governance, which recommended that half of the members of British boardrooms should be independent non-executive directors.

Eight of the 15 board members of BSkyB are independent non-executive directors.