JAMES MURDOCH will probably survive a row with investors to be re-elected as chairman of BSkyB today with the support of News Corp but that link to his father’s firm, tainted by the phone hacking scandal, could spell more problems with the regulator.

The executive’s link to BSkyB’s largest shareholder News Corp concerns some shareholders who say the company needs an independent chairman after News Corp had to pull its bid for the rest of BSkyB it does not own. Investor interest group Pirc warned: “If combined oppose votes and abstentions get close to 20 per cent then James Murdoch will struggle to claim the support of shareholders.”

News Corp had to withdraw its $12 billion offer in July following revelations that people working for a News Corp weekend tabloid, the News of the World, had hacked into the phones of celebrities and murder victims to secure stories.

James Murdoch is chairman of News International, News Corps British newspaper arm, and deputy chief operating officer at News Corp, where he survived a massive protest vote against his membership of the board last month. – (Reuters)