Reports in the national media this morning said that Ball and Murdoch senior were in discussions about Ball's future after speculation that the relationship between the two had deteriorated.
Ball's contact ends next June and it is seen as increasingly unlikely that he will remain at the company. Shares in the company were down by 12.5p this afternoon, trading at 624p, and at one point they had been down by as much as 2.5%.
While Ball has angered some shareholders because of the generous share options he receives as part of his remuneration package, he has also delivered results, putting the company into profitability and driving up subscriber numbers.
James Murdoch is being tipped as a likely successor to Ball, given Rupert Murdoch's predilection for putting his offspring into high-flying roles at the various companies he owns.
According to Reuters, BSkyB is testing market reaction to the successor plan. Graham Lovelace, the media consultant, said: "This is a softening up for the inevitable Murdoch succession story."
James currently runs News Corporation's Asian satellite television network Star TV. Before joining the family business, he founded a hip-hop record label called Rawkus in the US, after dropping out of Harvard. He joined News Corporation to run its internet units and was made CEO of Star TV in 2000.
James' older brother Lachlan has been charged with turning around the fortunes of the tabloid newspaper the New York Post, while their sister, Elisabeth, left the family business in 2001 to set up her own television production company, Shine.
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