CHANGES AFOOT IN GERMAN MARKET.

KirchMedia, the main company in the Kirch group, went into receivership on April 8. The company, whose TV interests include Germany's most profitable channel ProSieben and which also controls film and sports rights, will continue to operate for the immediate future under the aegis of its debtor banks, which have agreed to continue funding it. But this can only provide a temporary solution. The banks have clearly said that they expect media professionals to take over running the show within a few months. The door is thus open to media sector investors, both from Germany and elsewhere, and Rupert Murdoch appears to be one of the best placed. He did not intervene to stop the collapse of KirchMedia, in which he holds a small stake of 2.48%, and perhaps hopes to pick up the pieces at a bargain price. Murdoch's British pay TV company, BSkyB, is negotiating to acquire control of the Kirch group's loss-making subscription channel Premiere World, in which it already owns a 22.03% stake...