Sophie Vorrath writes:


It seems Rupert Murdoch is getting all X-rated in his dotage,
with reports surfacing that the chair of media giant News Corporation has been “secretly
building a stable of wholly-owned pornographic channels for his BSkyB
subsidiary”. After years of hosting third-party blue content only, BSkyB now
owns and operates its own pornographic channels, says London
paper The Business.

Apparently, BSkyB has been covertly expanding its activities
in the growing business of pornographic television with its wholly owned 18+
Movies offering. It has also been entering into partnerships with companies
that broadcast pornographic television channels on BSkyB, like Sport XXX Babes,
XXX Housewive and Playboy.

An interesting business direction for the Sun King – especially,
as The Business points out, in light of the Murdoch press’s campaign to label
rival newspaper baron Richard Desmond a pornographer in articles charting his
business which included pornographic magazines and TV channels.

But at least this will allow BSkyB to keep channels like Turn
On TV, Xplicit XXX and Adult Nightly separate from, say, The God Channel, Teachers
TV and The Gospel Channel. Apparently, the new electronic program guide will
have separate sections for Religion, Adult and Specialist. Nice.