MUMBAI: Liberty Global, Inc has appointed Tom Mockridge as CEO of Virgin Media, Inc upon the closing of its proposed acquisition of Virgin Media, which is subject to stockholder approval of both companies.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the definitive Joint Proxy Statement/ Prospectus, and stockholders of both companies are scheduled to vote on the transaction in early June, with closing soon thereafter.

Mockridge has served in several senior management roles over the course of more than two decades with News Corporation, including CEO of European Television operations, CEO of Sky Italia, and most recently CEO of News International.

Mockridge will succeed Neil Berkett, who will continue in his role as CEO of Virgin Media until closing of the transaction, having previously announced his intention to retire from Virgin Media upon closing.

Liberty Global president and CEO Mike Fries said, ?Tom will bring to Virgin Media a breadth of experience in the pay-TV industry, both in the UK and throughout Europe. I have known and worked with Tom for nearly 15 years and have always admired his leadership and operating success in a number of highly competitive media markets. We are fortunate to bring an executive of Tom?s talent and experience in to lead Virgin Media in its next phase of growth. I?d also like to wish Neil Berkett all the best in his future endeavors. He has done an outstanding job at Virgin Media and will be missed by all.?

Tom Mockridge said, ?Thanks to the incredible energy of its employees and the loyalty of its customers, Virgin Media has become the UK?s leading broadband communications company and has developed an immensely powerful media brand. I keenly anticipate joining the team as it continues to deliver the cutting-edge TV and broadband products and services that excite and inspire its customers across the UK. I?m also excited to become part of the Liberty Global family and look forward to working closely with Mike and his team as they continue to build the world?s largest cable platform.?

As CEO of Virgin Media after the closing, Mockridge will report to Fries, as well as to a newly formed operating committee comprising Fries, Diederik Karsten (EVP, European Broadband Operations) and Balan Nair (EVP and chief technology officer).

MUMBAI: Europe is in a recession but private TV overall is bucking the trend. Despite negative growth of the EU?s GDP in 2012 of - 0.3 per cent, the 20 leading private TV companies in Europe achieved overall organic growth of 1.9 per cent.

Sky tops the list at 8.5 billion euros in 2012, a 5.4 percent gain, followed by Liberty Global at 7.8 billion euros, a 6.3 per cent gain, and RTL Group, where revenues were up by four per cent to 5.8 billion euros. Canal+, Mediaset, Virgin Media, Sky Italia, ProSiebenSat.1, ITV plc and TF1 also made the top 10.

Pay-TV performs better than ad financed TV: With an overall organic growth rate of 3.7 per cent, Pay-TV groups performed better than the groups mainly financed by advertising as their overall organic revenues decreased by one per cent.

US groups showing better results than EU groups: Groups mainly controlled by US shareholders account for 42.8 per cent of the total and showed a higher organic growth rate (2.9 per cent).

The European Audiovisual Observatory, part of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, has analysed a sample list of companies composed of 11 groups mainly functioning as pay-TV operators and 9 groups mainly financed by advertising.

The activities of the pay-TV groups analysed include distribution of TV packages and provision of their own TV premium channels and on-demand audiovisual services (VoD and/or catch-up TV services). They may also include provision of their own TV channels financed by advertising and production activities. Cable groups have also earned revenues as ISPs and as providers of telephony services.

The groups mainly financed by advertising operate free-to-air generalist channels but they have also diversified into the provision of pay or free thematic channels. They also provide on-demand audiovisual services (VoD and/or catch-up TV services) and are generally also involved in sizable production activities.

The pay-TV groups include cable operators and satellite packagers (Sky in UK, Germany and Italy, Vivendi in France and Poland, Prisa in Spain, Zon Multimedia in Portugal). These groups registered overall organic growth of 3.7% in 2012, which indicates that even in a period of recession, European households have not only generally maintained their subscriptions, but have also demonstrated interest for new services (a ?Go? formula providing access everywhere on any device; transactional VoD services). The pay-TV market continues to strengthen. In 2012 Liberty Global consolidated the German company Unity Media Kabel BW, as well as increasing its share in the Belgian company Telenet and has recently announced the take-over of Virgin Media in the UK and Ziggo in The Netherlands. The satellite pay-TV market has also been strengthened in Poland with the recent launch of the NC+ platform, as a result of the agreement between Canal+ Cyfrowy, TVN and iti.