BSkyB, Kirch in Venture: British Sky Broadcasting...

BSkyB, Kirch in Venture: British Sky Broadcasting Group and Kirch Group of Germany said they agreed on a partnership to develop digital pay TV services in Germany, less than one month after another BSkyB European alliance fell apart. The accord pits BSkyB and Kirch against a $3.4-billion alliance sealed Monday between Bertelsmann and Compagnie Luxembourgeoise de Telediffusion to dominate the European market in digital pay TV services. BSkyB, 40%-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., said it will take a stake of up to 49% in Kirch’s digital TV vehicle in Germany. It said it also expects to acquire a stake of at least 25% in Kirch’s sports channel, Das Digitale Fernsehen, for which it will pay an unspecified sum.

Sumitomo, TCI to Start Asian TV Service: Tele-Communications International Inc. said it and Sumitomo Corp. are negotiating with Japanese broadcasters to form a venture that would beam Japanese television programs by satellite to the rest of Asia. The venture, Japan Entertainment Television Inc., is expected to be 70%-owned by Jupiter Programming Co. and 30%-owned by Japanese broadcasters. Jupiter is a 50-50 joint venture set up in March between TCI and Sumitomo that provides programs for Japanese cable television.