James Murdoch To Replace Nicholas Ferguson As Sky Chairman

James Murdoch will take over the pan-European pay TV giant Sky as the chairman, Britain’s subscription broadcaster announced Friday. Murdoch will succeed Nicholas Ferguson, who is stepping down after 12 years on the board.

The move comes four years after Murdoch resigned as chairman of Sky, previously known as BSkyB, amid a hacking scandal at the family’s News of the World tabloid in London. The 43-year-old son of Rupert Murdoch is currently the CEO of 21st Century Fox, which now owns the 39 percent shares of Sky formerly held by News Corp.

BSkyB was renamed Sky in 2014 after it merged with its two sister broadcasters, Sky Italia and Sky Deutschland. Sky operates in five European countries and is reportedly boosting revenue from its Now TV on-demand streaming service.

In October 2015, Murdoch told the Hollywood Reporter that once the three companies had been brought together, he would consider the next move.

"That integration is going really well," he reportedly said. "The company is moving at a very fast pace and has grown in value enormously. We've also been clear that over time, having 40 percent of an unconsolidated asset is not an end state that is natural for us."

On Friday, Sky also announced that its sales increased to $8.2 billion in the six months through December, and the London-based company added 337,000 customers in its second quarter, bringing the total to more than 21 million, according to Bloomberg.