Tony Ball

Tony Ball is a British television executive, former chairman of Kabel Deutschland and former CEO of BSkyB.

Biography Born and educated in London, Ball received an MBA from Kingston University and later an honorary doctorate.

Career Ball joined Thames Television on graduation as a broadcasting engineer. which included the FX Network, Fox Sports Net and 20 Regional Sports Channels throughout the United States.

BSkyB In 1999, Murdoch picked Ball to revive loss-making BSkyB, returning to the UK to manage the change from analogue to digital transmission. His reputation as an astute and intelligent marketer was solidified, on the back of doubling subscribers to 7million and taking BSkyB into profit for the first time in five years. The results were reflected in his basic salary of £762,000 and a £1.5m bonus; his total earnings during his tenure are estimated at £30m. After resigning in late 2003, he was replaced by James Murdoch, and left News Corp in April 2004.

Kabel Deutschland Ball joined Kabel Deutschland as chairman in 2003, where he introduced premium internet, telephony, and television services and executed a €1 billion network upgrade. From February 2006 to September 2010, Kabel Deutschland was majority-owned by Providence Equity Partners. On 24 June 2013, Vodafone announced a takeover bid for Kabel Deutschland valued at €7.7 billion, 4 times the valuation at the time of IPO. The board recommended the bid above that of rival Liberty Global.

Post 2003 Ball became a non-executive director for various companies, which presently include: non-executive director of the Spanish cable company ONO; and a non-executive director of BT plc. In mid-2009, Ball started negotiations with ITV to become Chief Executive, but talks broke down in September over various contractual issues.

Ball is a board member of the Olympic Delivery Authority for the London 2012 Summer Olympics,