Murdoch says Britian no longer charms him

MUMBAI: Facing flak for phone hacking scandal, media baron Rupert Murdoch said Britian doesn‘t appeal him anymore. Instead, the News Corp chairman is bullish on United States.

Murdoch is no longer interested in acquiring the profitable pay TV business British Sky Broadcasting, in which his company holds 39 per cent.

Pertinently, Murdoch has for a long time been pursuing the take over of BSkyB but the phone hacking scandal which engulfed at its British tabloids last year forced the company to withdraw the $12 billion bid to buy BSkyB.

?I think we have moved on in our own thinking from that,? Murdoch said to Fox Business. ?There were billions and billions of dollars and if Britain didn?t want them, we have good places to put them here. I am much more bullish on America than I am about England.?

Murdoch brushed aside suggestions that his decision had more to do with the hacking scandal, saying his confidence in the United States has a lot to do with its leadership. He also believes that Europe is going to have a long ?semi-recession, if not a real recession".