Tony Ball is a British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 executive, chairman of Kabel Deutschland

Kabel Deutschland

-Company:Kabel Deutschland operates in 13 of the 16 states . In 2006, of the 15.4 million households passed by their cable the company served 9.6 million, however only one third of these are direct customers of Kabel Deutschland, since especially in large apartment complexes the in-house cable...

 and former CEO of BSkyB.

Career

Ball joined Thames Television

Thames Television

Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....

 on graduation as a broadcasting engineer. he was later a founding director of Champion TV, which launched the UK's first dedicated sports channel, The Sports Channel, broadcast on British Satellite Broadcasting

British Satellite Broadcasting

British Satellite Broadcasting was a British television company which provided direct broadcast satellite television services to the United Kingdom...

. In 1993, Ball joined BSkyB, where he build the success of Sky Sports

Sky Sports

Sky Sports is the brand name for a group of sports-oriented television channels operated by the UK and Ireland's main satellite pay-TV company, British Sky Broadcasting. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland...

.

Fox Sports International

Picked by Rupert Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch

Keith Rupert Murdoch, AC, KSG is an Australian-American business magnate. He is the founder and Chairman and CEO of , the world's second-largest media conglomerate....

, he moved to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 to become President of Fox Sports International

Fox Sports International

FIC Sports, London UK, manages the syndication of FOX Sports content worldwide. Content includes programming from Fox Sports, Fuel TV, Fox Soccer, Big 10 Network and Speed....

, where he oversaw the creation and the operation of sports television businesses in North America, Latin America

Latin America

Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages  – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...

, Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 and Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Ball then became chief executive of News Corporation

News Corporation

News Corporation or News Corp. is an American multinational media conglomerate. It is the world's second-largest media conglomerate as of 2011 in terms of revenue, and the world's third largest in entertainment as of 2009, although the BBC remains the world's largest broadcaster...

's Fox/Liberty Media

Liberty Media

Liberty Media Corporation is an American media conglomerate and the control is exercised by company Chairman John C. Malone, who owns a majority of the voting shares....

 Network, which included the FX Network, Fox Sports Net

Fox Sports Net

The Fox Sports Regional Networks, or simply Fox Sports Net , are a collection of cable TV regional sports networks in the United States owned and operated by News Corporation.- Beginnings :...

 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

James Murdoch

James Murdoch is the chairman and chief executive of News Corporation.James Murdoch may also refer to:* James Murdoch , Irish Baptist College lecturer and former Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland pastor-teacher...

, and left News Corp in April 2004.

Post 2003

Ball became a non-executive director for various companies, which presently include: chairman of Kabel Deutschland, Germany's largest cable television network; non-executive director of the Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 cable company ONO

ONO (Spain)

ONO is a Spanish broadband communication and entertainment company, delivering integrated telephone, television and Internet services to its residential customers. In this segment, it has 3.7 million services contracted and over six million users....

; 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

Olympic Delivery Authority

The Olympic Delivery Authority is the statutory corporation responsible for ensuring delivery of venues, infrastructure and legacy for the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games in London...

 for the London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 2012 Summer Olympics

2012 Summer Olympics

The 2012 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the "London 2012 Olympic Games", are scheduled to take place in London, England, United Kingdom from 27 July to 12 August 2012...

, and a trustee of the Media Trust

Media Trust

Media Trust is a privately held Nigerian newspaper publishing company based in Abuja that publishes the English language Daily Trust, Weekly Trust, Sunday Trust and the Hausa language Aminiya newspapers as well as a new Pan-African Magazine, Kilimanjaro....

.

Personal life

Married to a Spanish

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

-national lady, the couple have homes in London and Spain. The motorcycle he bought and rode whilst resident in California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, was placed in his office at BSkyB.