New media gets £250m plug from BSkyB

NEWS BSkyB is to invest £250m over the next year on new media ventures, reflecting News Corporation's increasing interest in the Internet. The investment will involve the expansion of Sky's www.sky.com and www.skysports.com Web sites. Sky says it wants to become the number one sports portal on the Internet, achieving the same dominance that it has in the television sphere. It aims to build cross platform portals that encourage viewers to move between the Internet, digital TV and interactive digital TV platforms. It also plans to roll out ADSL services in the Kingston area through a deal with Kingston Telecom. Sky announced the news as it unveiled half-year results showing large losses due to heavy investment in the roll out of digital services.