Oct. 4, 1999: During the height of the dot-com era, interactive TV technology developer Gemstar International Group Ltd. agreed to buy TV Guide Inc. for $9.7 billion. The deal was one of many involving TV Guide that Rupert Murdoch probably regrets. Gemstar was primarily a one-trick pony offering interactive programming guides to broadcast and cable networks. By acquiring TV Guide, not only did it expand its customer-base of IPG subscribers to include cable and satellite TV providers, but it also added an "analog" equivalent in the form of the venerable weekly magazine that listed TV show times. Prior to the deal, the two had tangled in the courts. In 1998, Gemstar had sued TV Guide, then a unit of News Corp., for patent infringement. To counter the suit, TV Guide attempted to eliminate its rival by launching a $2.8 billion hostile bid. Eventually, TV Guide withdrew its bid, and the next year merged with John Malone's United Video Satellite Group Inc., which took the TV Guide name. News Corp. maintained a 40% stake in the new TV Guide. While the sale to Gemstar eliminated TV Guide's legal troubles, it would later create financial troubles for Murdoch. Following the TV Guide-Gemstar deal's July 2000 closing, Malone traded his shares in the merged company for a larger stake in News Corp. and its affiliate Sky Global Networks. In turn, Murdoch was guaranteed a seat on the board of TV Guide-Gemstar. However, Murdoch has had to contend with Malone making trouble at News Corp. ever since. Odds are if Murdoch could do it all again, he'd have forgone the TV Guide board seat, to keep Malone out of his hair. —Matthew Wurtzel
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