BUSINESS ETHICS & CORPORARTE

GOVERNANCE

Anand B. Sonawane

t.y.Bcom (Bank & INS)

Roll No: - 08

Submitted to: - MRS. Archana prabhudesai

 Chap No INDEX

01 Company Profile

02 Introduction

03 History

04 Product

05 BODs of SONY

06 Awards

07 Corporate Report

COMPANY PROFILE
Sony is a global manufacturer of audio, video, communications and information
technology products for consumer and professional markets.
With its music, pictures, game and online businesses, the company is uniquely
positioned to be one of the world’s leading digital entertainment brands, offering
an outstanding portfolio of exciting multimedia content.

Sony delivers thrilling digital entertainment experiences by capitalising on the

synergy between its electronics business, content creation capabilities and movie,
music, mobile and computer games interests. As a world leader in high definition,
Sony already offers an exciting range of broadcast and consumer HD products, as
well as content assets that are driving the industry towards HD digitization.

Sony is the only company that can deliver complete, end-to-end solutions for
today's HD World. We provide the tools for our customers to create, edit, store,
share and enjoy High Definition content. Sony Pictures and Sony Computer
Entertainment create movies and games that maximise the full power and potential
of HD while independent film makers and programme producers are encouraged to
realize their unique creative vision in full Sony HD.

Blu-ray Disc will also be a key driver of Sony’s HD business. This high capacity,
next-generation optical disc format is supported by leading companies in every
major industry and offers vast potential for content creators to develop a new
generation of HD entertainment experiences.

High-resolution, super-slim LCD televisions for the digital era

Half a century since the arrival of the first televisions, the TV market is going
through a period of significant change as technology moves from analog to digital
and from cathode ray tube (CRT) to flat panel. Sony has risen to this challenge
with the launch in 2005 of its brand-new BRAVIA* range of high-resolution,
slim-profile LCD televisions

In developing BRAVIA, Sony brought together its most advanced design,

manufacturing and sales capabilities. We incorporated newly developed Sony
Panels and other technologies for outstanding image quality and devised a high
impact advertising programme. BRAVIA currently holds the worldwide No. 1
position for LCD TVs (as of February 2007) and European BRAVIA sales went
from 1 million sets in 2005 to 2.5 million sets in 2006. Sony will continue to
capture the hearts of consumers with BRAVIA, a high-quality range of televisions
uniquely suited to the digital, flat panel era.

In announcing the arrival of the new BRAVIA LCD and SXRD ranges, Sony
aimed to communicate a simple message – that the colour you see on these
screens is 'like.no.other'. You can watch the latest commercial for Sony BRAVIA
and a behind-the-scenes documentary, as well as access gallery images and a
range of downloads including an HD version of the full length ad by logging on to

Radical Broadcasting

The use of Sony HD cameras, video tape recorders and editing equipment by major
broadcasters is helping to speed up the transition to HD broadcasting worldwide.
Since HDCAM™ was launched in 1997, this format has become the standard for
HD content creation with shipments of recording devices reaching over 31,000
units* worldwide. In April 2006, Sony released the blue-violet, laser-based
'XDCAM' HD Professional Disc™ system which gained 6000 sales in its inaugural
year. As high definition becomes more commonplace, Sony continues to play a
major support role by supplying HD equipment perfectly suited to specific
customer environments and needs.

Digital Cinema

In 1999, Sony took the lead in the industry by commercializing CineAlta, a 24-
frame-per-second HD professional movie production system. CineAlta paved the
way for vast improvements in movie production efficiency by shifting from tape to
recording in digital HD on tape. This makes it possible to shoot and edit digitally
and achieve the same superb image quality as film. The system has been adopted
extensively, and is already credited with the production of more than 400 movies
to date. Sony continues to focus on the CineAta brand and has strengthened the
line-up with new additions including the new F23 digital cinema camera.

All-Action Home Entertainment

Sony brings powerful HD experiences to home entertainment through a wide array
of innovative equipment. Our HD LCD and SXRD rear-projection TVs reproduce
HD broadcasts with brilliant colour and sharpness. Just attach a Blu-ray Disc
player and 5.1-channel surround sound system to create an awesome high-
definition, high-fidelity home cinema experience.

Our high-performance Cell processor and RSX graphics processor are incorporated
into PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment consoles to enable enjoyment of
the latest ultra-realistic next generation games.

You can also link Sony Handycam® HD camcorders featuring the ClearVID
CMOS Sensor™ with our top-spec VAIO PCs supporting HD imaging to allow
editing of your own personal movies at full image quality.

The Future is Blu-ray

High definition content and the media on which it is recorded represents a key
element of the new HD World. The incredible Blu-ray Disc format offers a storage
capacity approximately five times that of DVD – enough for more than three hours
of HD-quality MPEG-2 video. This makes it possible to store a full-length movie
plus directors cuts and interactive bonus content on a single disc. Blu-ray Disc also
includes a robust content protection mechanism that features superior data
encoding.

More than 170 partner companies from the consumer electronics, IT, game, movie
and music industries currently support Blu-ray Disc. Top studios including Sony
Pictures Entertainment Inc. (SPE), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM), The Walt
Disney Company, Warner Bros. Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Lions
Gate and Paramount Pictures will release titles on Blu-ray Disc, which can be
enjoyed on PCs, consumer electronic products and of course,
Introduction
Sony Corporation or commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational
conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's
fifth largest media conglomerate with revenue exceeding ¥ 7.730.0 trillion, or
US$77.20 billion (FY2010). Sony is one of the leading manufacturers of
electronics, products for the consumer and professional markets.

Sony Corporation is the electronics business unit and the parent company of the
Sony Group, which is engaged in business through its eight operating segments –
Consumer Products & Devices (CPD), Networked Products & Services (NPS),
B2B & Disc Manufacturing (B2B & Disc), Pictures, Music, Financial Services,
Sony Ericsson and All Other. These make Sony one of the most comprehensive
entertainment companies in the world. Sony's principal business operations include
Sony Corporation (Sony Electronics in the U.S.), Sony Pictures Entertainment,
Sony Computer Entertainment, Sony Music Entertainment, Sony Ericsson, and
Sony Financial. As a semiconductor maker, Sony is among the Worldwide Top 20
Semiconductor Sales Leaders.

Its founders Akio Morita and Masaru Ibuka derived the name from sonus, the Latin
word for sound, and also from the English slang word "sonny", since they
considered themselves to be "sonny boys", a loan word into Japanese which in the
early 1950s connoted smart and presentable young men.

History
In late 1945, after the end of World War II, Masaru Ibuka started a radio repair
shop in a bomb-damaged department store building in Nihonbashi of Tokyo. The
next year, he was joined by his colleague, Akio Morita, and they founded a
company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K., (Tokyo Telecommunications
Engineering Corporation). The company built Japan's first tape recorder called the
Type-G.

In August 1955, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo released the Sony TR-55, Japan's first
commercially produced transistor radio. They followed up in December of the
same year by releasing the Sony TR-72, a product that won favor both within
Japan and in export markets, including Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and
Germany. Featuring six transistors, push-pull output and greatly improved sound
quality, the TR-72 continued to be a popular seller into the early sixties.

In May 1956, the company released the TR-6, which featured an innovative slim
design and sound quality capable of rivaling portable tube radios. It was for the
TR-6 that Sony first contracted "Atchan", a cartoon character created by Fuyuhiko
Okabe, to become its advertising character. Now known as "Sony Boy", the
character first appeared in a cartoon ad holding a TR-6 to his ear, but went on to
represent the company in ads for a variety of products well into the mid-sixties.
The following year, 1957, Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo came out with the TR-63 model,
then the smallest (112 × 71 × 32 mm) transistor radio in commercial production. It
was a worldwide commercial success.
University of Arizona professor Michael Brian Schiffer, Ph.D., says, "Sony was
not first, but its transistor radio was the most successful. The TR-63 of 1957
cracked open the U.S. market and launched the new industry of consumer
microelectronics." By the mid 1950s, American teens had begun buying portable
transistor radios in huge numbers, helping to propel the fledgling industry from an
estimated 100,000 units in 1955 to 5,000,000 units by the end of 1968.

Sony's headquarters moved to Minato, Tokyo from Shinagawa, Tokyo around the
end of 2006.

Products
Sony offers a number of products in a variety of product lines around the world.
Sony has developed a music playing robot called Rolly, dog-shaped robots called
AIBO, humanoids, and QRIO.

PlayStation

In 1994 Sony launched the PlayStation to compete with the Nintendo 64 and other
consoles. This successful console was succeeded by the PlayStation 2 in 2000. The
PlayStation 2 has become the most successful video game console of all time,
selling over 140 million units. The PlayStation brand was extended to the portable
games market in 2005 by the PlayStation Portable (PSP) and in 2009, the PSP go.
Sony developed the Universal Media Disc (UMD) optical disc medium for use on
the PlayStation Portable. Although Sony tried to push the UMD format for movies,
major-studio support for the format was cut back in spring 2006, though as of 2009
some major-studio titles continue to be released on UMD.

Sony released the PlayStation 3, a high-definition console, in 2006. It later

introduced the PlayStation Move, an accessory that allows players to control video
games using motion controllers. Sony announced that on 1 April 2010 it was
electronically removing Linux functionality from the first generation PS3. A class
action has been taken out in California challenging the legality of "the disablement
of valuable functionality originally advertised".

Sony admitted in late 2005 to hiring graffiti artists to spray paint advertisements
for their PlayStation Portable game system in seven major cities including New
York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Sydney Australia. The mayor of
Philadelphia filed a cease and desist order. According to Sony, they paid
businesses and building owners for the right to graffiti their walls. As of early
January 2006, Sony had no plans to keep or withdraw them.

In November 2006, a marketing company employed by Sony created a website

entitled "All I want for Xmas is a PSP", designed to promote the PSP through viral
marketing. The site contained a blog, which was purportedly written by "Charlie",
a teenager attempting to get his friend "Jeremy"'s parents to buy him a PSP,
providing links to t-shirt iron-ons, Christmas cards, and a "music video" of either
Charlie or Jeremy "rapping". However, visitors to the website soon discovered that
the website was registered to a marketing company, exposing the site on sites such
as YouTube and digg, and Sony was forced to admit the site's true origin in a post
on the blog, stating that they would from then on "stick to making cool products"
and that they would use the website for "the facts on the PSP". The site has since
been taken down. In an interview with next-gen.biz, Sony admitted that the idea
was "poorly executed".

In 2002, Sony Computer Entertainment America, marketer of the popular

PlayStation game consoles, was sued by Immersion Corporation of San Jose,
California which claimed that Sony's PlayStation "Dual Shock" controllers
infringed on Immersion's patents. In 2004, a federal jury agreed with Immersion,
awarding the company US$82 million in damages. A U.S. district court judge ruled
on the matter in March 2005 and not only agreed with the federal jury's ruling but
also added another US$8.7 million in damages. This is likely the reason that the
Sixaxis controller for the PlayStation 3 had no rumble feature. The DualShock 3
has since been made available for the PlayStation 3, reintroducing rumble
capabilities. Microsoft Corp. was also sued for its Xbox controller, however, unlike
Sony, they settled out of court so they could continue using the technology for the
follow-up Xbox 360.[25] A California judge ordered Sony to pay Immersion a
licensing fee of 1.37 percent per quarter based on the sales of PlayStation units,
Dual Shock controllers, and a selection of PlayStation 2 games that use
Immersion's technology.

VAIO

Sony offers a line up laptops branded as VAIO. Previously Sony has disabled
hardware virtualization on their high end VAIO laptops, citing concern for users
running malicious code. However, most new VAIO laptops can utilize
virtualization.

Laptop batteries dysfunction

In April 2006, a Sony laptop battery exploded in Japan and caught fire. A Japanese
couple in Tokyo sued both Sony and Apple Japan for over ¥2 million (US$16,700)
regarding the incident. The suit argues that the man suffered burns on his finger
when the battery burst into flames while being used, and his wife had to be treated
for mental distress due to the incident. On 14 August 2006, Sony and Dell admitted
to major flaws in several Sony batteries that could result in the battery overheating
and catching fire. As a result they recalled over 4.1 million laptop batteries in the
largest computer-related recall to that point in history. The cost of this recall was
shared between Dell and Sony. Dell also confirmed that one of its laptops caught
fire in Illinois. This recall also prompted Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and
Industry to order the companies to investigate the troubles with the batteries. The
ministry said that Sony must have reported on their findings and drawn up a plan to
prevent future problems by the end of August, or face a fine under consumer safety
laws. On 23 September 2006, Sony announced its investigation of a Lenovo
ThinkPad T43 laptop which overheated and caught fire in the Los Angeles
International Airport on 16 September, an incident that was confirmed by Lenovo.

On 28 September 2006, Sony announced a global battery exchange program in

response to growing consumer concerns. Acer, Apple Computer, Dell, Fujitsu,
IBM, Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard, and Toshiba all recalled Sony laptop batteries.[34]
It was also reported that Fujitsu, Toshiba, and Hitachi were considering the
possibility of seeking compensation from Sony over the battery recalls.
A Japanese newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun, reported that Sony was aware of faults
in its notebook PC batteries in December 2005 but failed to fully study the
problem.

Sony Pictures Entertainment

In July 2000, a marketing executive working for Sony Corporation created a

fictitious film critic, David Manning, who gave consistently good reviews for
releases from Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures that generally received poor
reviews amongst real critics. When the scandal was revealed, Sony apologised to
Ridgefield Press, the newspaper Manning was claimed to be from. Sony claimed it
was unaware of the marketing ploy, and pulled the ads and suspended Manning's
creator and his supervisor. In 2003, Sony paid the state of Connecticut $325,000 in
fines following the Connecticut Attorney General's investigation into Sony's
alleged fraudulent marketing practices. In August 2005, Sony finalized a
settlement to pay $1.5m to fans who saw the reviewed films in the US.

In 2006 Sony started using ARccOS Protection on some of their film DVDs, which
caused compatibility problems with some DVD players – including models
manufactured by Sony. After complaints, Sony was forced to issue a recall.

Sony BMG

Main article: Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal

In October 2005, it was revealed by Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals that Sony

BMG's music CDs had installed a rootkit on the user's computer as a DRM
measure (called Extended Copy Protection by its creator, British company First 4
Internet), which was difficult to detect or remove. [42] This constitutes a crime in
many countries, and poses a major security risk to affected users. The uninstaller
Sony initially provided removed the rootkit, but in turn installed a dial-home
program that posed an even greater security risk. Sony eventually provided an
actual uninstaller that removed all of Sony's DRM program from the user's
computer. Sony BMG faced several class action lawsuits regarding this matter. [43]
On 31 January 2007, the U. S. Federal Trade Commission issued a news release
announcing that Sony BMG had agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission
charges that Sony BMG committed several offenses against United States federal
law. This settlement required that Sony BMG allow consumers to exchange the
CDs through 30 June 2007, and to reimburse consumers for up to $150 for the
repair of damage to their computers that they may have incurred while removing
the software.

In September 2009 Sony had its Mexican office raided by police to recover over
6000 CDs, masters and artwork, by the popular Latin American artist Alejandro
Fernández. Fernández's lawyers claimed that Sony was in breach of contract as
Fernández had been contracted to Sony for seven albums and the recordings were
an eighth album made after the contract had expired.

Digital photography

Sony offers a range of digital cameras, ranging from point-and-shoot models to

digital SLRs.Initially, in October 2005, it was reported by Sony that there were
problems with the charge-coupled devices (CCD) in 20 models of digital still
cameras. The problems can prevent the cameras from taking clear pictures, and in
some cases, possibly prevent a picture being taken at all. In late November 2006,
the recall was broadened to eight additional models of digital cameras sold
between 2003 and 2005. The problem appears to manifest itself mostly when the
camera is used in areas with hot weather. The eight models affected are the
following: DSC-F88, DSC-M1, DSC-T1, DSC-T11, DSC-T3, DSC-T33, DSC-
U40 and DSC-U50. Sony indicated that they would repair or replace the affected
camera at no charge. Since Sony is one of the largest producers of CCD chips, this
recall may affect other manufacturers and models of cameras, possibly as many as
100 models or more. Other manufacturers of digital cameras, including Canon,
Minolta, Nikon, Olympus or Fuji have indicated they will replace faulty CCDs in
their respective models of cameras if necessary.
Board of Directors of SONY

BOARD MEMBERS ON BOARD MEMBERS*

Ag
Name (Connections) Board Relationships Primary Company
e

232
Yotaro Kobayashi Sony Corporation 76
Relationships

Yoshiaki Yamauchi 75 Relationships Sony Corporation 73

106
Ryuji Yasuda Sony Corporation 64
Relationships

Peter Bonfield 122 British Quality Foundation 64

Relationships
 Ag
Name (Connections) Board Relationships Primary Company
e

105
Fujio Cho Toyota Motor Corp. 73
Relationships

Roland Hernandez 51 Relationships Vail Resorts Inc. 52

Yukako Uchinaga 56 Relationships Benesse Holdings, Inc. 64

Tsun-Yan Hsieh 13 Relationships Sony Corporation 58

Mitsuaki Yahagi 78 Relationships Sony Corporation 62

Kanemitsu Anraku 41 Relationships Sony Corporation 69

Osamu Nagayama 58 Relationships Roche Holding AG 63

Yorihiko Kojima 84 Relationships Mitsubishi Corporation 69

Awards

1983
The first person ever to mount the stage and collect their award at the Hilton Hotel
in 1983 was a little known Irish music broadcaster by the name of Terry Wogan
thus disproving one of the myths that surround these awards, namely that to win
guarantees a quick path to obscurity.  A trophy styled after the Sony Radio, of no
commercial value was handed over by Noel Edmonds and so started an annual
tradition that is as much a part of the annual rituals of the UK broadcasting
industry as the Proms, the Reith Lectures and the Christmas appeals. The previous
year had seen the nation celebrating the Queen's Golden jubilee, the BBC had
recently appointed Alasdair Milne as a new Director General and there were just
35 commercial radio stations broadcasting their single, simulcast, services around
the land. Sony had developed the first CD and consumer electronics stood at the
outset of the digital age. There were categories for Best Actor and Best Actress at
that time and Mary Riggans took the Actress Award for a performance produced
by a commercial radio station in Glasgow, Radio Clyde. Also celebrating victory
in that first year was Richard Park as the Local Radio Personality and Woman's
Hour as the Magazine Programme.

1984

Noel Edmonds returned as host in 1984, despite the fact that he was leaving radio
to embark on a career as the presenter of the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop. He
welcomed the good and the great of the radio industry who left their Rubik cubes
behind on the desk and made their way to the Hilton to celebrate outstanding
contributions from David Jacobs and Jimmy (later to become Lord) Gordon. The
Band Aid single topped the charts and the IRA bombed the Tory Party conference
in Brighton. The Sony organisers decided to recognise Technical Excellence for
the first time and selected BBC Radio 3's A Concert from Seoul, while classical
music was alive and well on the commercial airwaves with Piccadilly taking Gold
with Mr Halle's Band.

1985
The awards were still a lunchtime affair in 1985, allowing the guests to claim that
they returned to their offices for an afternoon's work, but this third year saw a shift
in venue to the Grosvenor House Hotel. Ernie Wise made the first mobile phone
call to Vodafone and Live Aid touched the nation's conscience and provided the
substance for next year's award for the broadcast of a live event which went to
Radio 1. Jimmy Young was the personality of the year and David Loyn from IRN
took the Reporters Award. BFBS was recognised for their Outstanding
Contribution and an interesting experiment from Radio Forth in Edinburgh
emerged. They set up a special Festival Radio Station and thus pioneered the idea
of both community radio and an RSL, as well as collecting an award

1986
BBC Radio 1 collected a Gold in 1986 as the recipients of the first ever award to
carry the name of the Radio Academy, this for the Most Creative Use of Radio.
Chernobyl had exploded and Prince Andrew married Sarah Ferguson. At the same
time John Peel was to be the National DJ and LBC's Douglas Cameron the Radio
Personality.
Drama played a large part in the earlier years of the awards taking five of the
categories and children's programmes were also specifically recognised. 'Pop
Music' had its place with Capital's Network Chart Show taking Gold.

1987

In the year that Michael Checkland took over at the BBC, the Kings Cross fire and
Michael Fish used television to say there would not be a hurricane (then there
was); the Radio Personality of the year was Derek Jameson and The Archers were
honoured with the Gold Award for Outstanding Contribution.
1988
1988 saw reporters hurrying to cover the Lockerbie plane crash and the Clapham
rail disaster, thus providing the raw material for next year's entry. Capital's Alan
'Fluff' Freeman was the Radio Personality and Thena Heshel received a Special
Award in recognition of her outstanding work on "In Touch'.  This year marked an
anniversary for Sony; twenty years of business in the United Kingdom. To mark
this occasion a UK Radio Roll of Honour was published incorporating some 26
names. In September, London listened to the arrival of a new radio station from
Capital Radio. Capital Gold was launched by the late Roger Scott, possibly one of
the few greats to avoid recognition by the Sony judges.
 
1989
DJs were being recognised as important at both national level, Bruno Brookes, and
local, David Jensen. Significantly the supreme importance of breakfast time
broadcasting was to be recognised for the first time with Les Ross of BRMB
carrying off the Gold. There were also new awards for Sequence Programming
going to Moray Firth Radio and a Local Station of the Year that was won by
BRMB. Sky Television was launched to increase the level of competition, the
Berlin Wall came down and Tiananmen Square erupted. The Outstanding
Contribution Award went to Tony Blackburn and a Special Award was made to
John Whitney, then Director General of the IBA, for his services to radio.
 
1990
Margaret Thatcher left Number Ten and the BBC launched their first new national
network for 23 years, Radio 5. The commercial sector was also into expansion with
the first new London-wide offering coming from Jazz FM. The documentary
category was divided between General, Music & Arts and News & Current Affairs
with all three awards being taken by BBC Radio 4. Moray Firth took the Sequence
Programming Award for the second year. Radio Foyle was the Local Station of the
Year, Brian Keenan was released and Chris Tarrant was the Radio Personality.
 
1991
The release of Nelson Mandela was always going to be a major news story.  In this
year, coverage of this event won Gold for the BBC World Service. 
The 1991 Breakfast Award went to Network Africa from the BBC World Service;
the magazine category saw Woman's Hour claiming the laurels for a second time
and the Local Station of the Year was Radio Borders. BBC Light Entertainment
captured the Radio Academy Award and Capital's Charlie Gillett was honoured
with the Gold Award for Outstanding Contribution.
 
1992
In 1992, the Gulf War was the opportunity for the Today programme to claim Gold
for Breakfast Show: Speech Based, while Radio Aire's Mark Page was doing the
same for Breakfast Show: Music Based. The Queen was suffering her 'Annus
Horibilis' and Classic FM was launched.
That same year, Feature/Documentary became a single award and this opened the
way for a new category for best Phone-In, won by Jeremy Dry from BBC Hereford
and Worcester. Jimmy Saville took the Gold Award for Outstanding Contribution
and the Radio Academy Award went to Sir Richard Attenborough. National DJ
was Simon Mayo for the second year running and the BBC World Service received
a Special Award.
This point marked the completion of ten years of Sony Awards recognising true
excellence in all aspects of radio programming. The radio industry had by now
grown to over 150 stations and the awards ceremony itself was a guaranteed sell
out each year.

1993
Into the second decade of the Sonys and the breakfast competition is getting even
hotter. Capital Gold's Tony Blackburn takes Gold for Contemporary Music while
Classic FM's Nick Bailey celebrates something described as Non-Contemporary
Music and Mike Carlton's Morning Report for LBC takes the Speech Category.
The changing face of the radio industry is reflected in the first award for an
independent production company as Unique takes the prize for Unsung Heroes
produced for BBC Radio 1. President Clinton was inaugurated and John Birt took
control of the BBC. The definitions for Station of the Year were expanded with
Fox FM taking honours for the local station; Clyde 2 as the Metropolitan and
Classic FM as National Station of the Year; a clean sweep for the commercial
sector. The National Broadcaster of the Year was John Peel.
 

1994

In 1994 BBC Radio 5 Live was launched, Labour Party Leader John Smith died
and the Euro Tunnel was opened. Familiar names took to the podium with Wogan,
clearly having heeded the journalist's advice, taking Non-Contemporary Music and
Les Ross winning Contemporary. The Outstanding Contribution Award went to
Kenny Everett and the National Station of the Year was BBC Radio Scotland.
Subsequently the definition for UK Station of the Year was altered, leaving
Scotland with a taste of devolved nationhood that could not be repeated. A Radio
Academy Award was made to the team behind the development of the BBC RDS
system and Sunday Trading was legalised.

1995
The 1995 Radio Academy Award went to Jenny Abramsky for masterminding the
launch of 5 Live; Alistair Cooke won the Gold Award and memorably reported
how OJ Simpson was declared not guilty of murder. The definition of the Phone-In
category was broadened to incorporate all forms of Topical Debate and BBC GMR
took the Gold. The first ever UK Radio Station of the Year was BBC Radio 2.
 
1996
Competitions have always been an important part of many radio schedules and in
the year when Clinton and Yeltsin were re-elected and Charles and Diana divorced,
they were judged as a separate category with Virgin emerging with Gold. Breakfast
was back to two categories with Russ and Jono taking Music and the BBC World
Service taking Speech, although BBC Radio 5 Live took honours for News
Presentation with their breakfast show, as well as being the UK Station of the
Year. The Local Station of the Year was Moray Firth, starting one of the most
exceptional Sony performances throughout its history.

1997
The death of Princess Diana was to force many broadcasters to re-examine how
they would address moments of national tragedy. However that was to come after
an awards ceremony that had been shifted from lunchtime to an evening dinner.
This was also to be the last awards presented by Michael Aspel. He was to be
succeeded by a couple of double acts: first Kirsty Young and Maureen Lipman,
then Kirsty again with Paul Gambaccini. This was to be followed by a positive
cavalcade of Cox & Bumphry, Mark & Lard and Gambaccini in a single year
before Paul Gambaccini made the event his own in 2001. However, we are moving
too far ahead. In 1997 the judges would also recognise the accomplishments of a
programme controller for the first time, that award going to Steve Martin of the
Pulse. The Broadcaster of the Year was John Inverdale and Jimmy Young received
the Gold Award. Moray Firth were into their second year of success and BBC
Wales took a Regional Award that might have been National two years earlier. The
UK Station of the Year was Classic FM.

1998
In 1998, the joint entry from BBC Radios 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 Live, National Regions,
Local Radio Stations and the World Service for the Event Category in the coverage
of Princess Diana's Funeral must rate as the largest ever combined entry in the
history of the awards. It also took Gold; as did the News Coverage of her death by
the Today programme, BBC 5 Live and BBC News. The Awards Committee
divided the award categories between music and speech based programming
throughout the day - Breakfast, Daytime, Drivetime and Evening/Late Night.
Music awards went to Mark Radcliffe, John Dunn and Richard Allinson and
Speech awards to Tim Hubbard from BBC Radio Cornwall and Five Live for Up
All Night. There were also Weekend awards that were divided between Michael
Parkinson for Music, and Ed Doolan for Speech. This was the year of the appalling
Omagh bombing and scandals hit the White House, but Moray Firth continued
their run of success and BBC Radio WM and Five 5 Live provided the other
winners as Stations of the Year and an emotional Chris Evans took the Gold
Award for Outstanding Contribution to Radio.
 

1999
One of the issues with which the Awards Committee wrestle is whether a single
performance, however brilliant, should be able to straddle across two, three or even
more categories. In this year of a total solar eclipse, the Paddington train crash and
Manchester United winning the treble, it was to be John Peel who swept the board.
He took three Golds for Home Truths, despite losing out to Tim Hubbard from
Cornwall who again took the prize for Talk/News Broadcaster.
 
2000
The Millennium saw the arrival of Greg Dyke to the BBC, Steve Redgrave
winning his fifth Olympic Gold and Harold Shipman being jailed for life for serial
muder. Chris Smith MP generated a tumultuous welcome before presenting the UK
Station of the Year Award to Classic FM and then the Gold Award Awarded to
Ralph Bernard in recognition of his work championing digital radio. Moray Firth
were toppled from their perch by BBC Radio Foyle, the topical debate now
became an Interactive category and a Special Award went to Alan Freeman.
Throughout the period of the Sonys the radio industry had been preparing itself for
the digital age. 2000 was the year in which the entries were submitted and judged
in a digital format using mini-discs.
 
2001
The following year the first ever Digital Station Award was made to Oneword
Radio. Digital Audio Broadcasting was a reality and a part of the mainstream
broadcasting ecology. The technologies may be developing but the award winners
still embraced some of the old favourites. Terry Wogan taking the Special Award
and Chris Tarrant the Gold. Radio Foyle sought to emulate Moray Firth with a
second consecutive win and Jon Gaunt tried to emulate John Peel with wins for
Breakfast News Talk, News Broadcaster and News coverage. England had a
Swede as the new football team manager, the phrase '9/11' assumed appalling
connotations throughout the Western world and BBC Radio 2 took the UK Station
of the Year Award.
 
2002
Wogan was back in the following year with his breakfast show while Big George
surprised a number of people outside the BBC Three Counties as the nation's
Music Broadcaster of the Year. This was the year that marked the death of the
Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, the Bali bombings and the Soham murders.
BBC Radio Cumbria were rewarded for their massive efforts in covering the Foot
and Mouth epidemic, which was finally beaten. For the first time ever the
ceremony was available to an audience beyond the Great Room of the Grosvenor
House. A webcast of the whole ceremony linked by Kevin Greening was available
and numerous stations throughout the country started to hold their own Awards
parties. This extended audience were able to watch John Peel collect the Gold
Award and the 2001 Award went to the BBC World Service at a time when the
world was in increasing tumult.
 
2003
Two broadcasters, who were to return to the stage in future years, received awards
in 2003: Christian O'Connell for Breakfast Music and Stephen Nolan as Speech
Broadcaster. Jonathan Ross took both the Entertainment Award and the 2002
Award, John Humphrys the Gold while the compere, Paul Gambaccini, was
surprised to be told that it was he who had won the Music Broadcaster of the Year.
 

2004
England claiming the 2003 Rugby World Cup provided the moment for which Ian
Robertson's commentary was rewarded. Mark Thompson took over at the BBC and
terrorist bombs killed hundreds in Madrid.  Radio Foyle were back to their winning
ways, Christian O'Connell and Stephen Nolan repeated their trip to stage and BBC
Radio Five Live won a new category recognising a Promotional Campaign.
Johnnie Walker took the Gold Award and the UK Station of the Year was BBC
Radio 4. President Bush was re-elected and, at the very end of the year, the Asian
Tsunami struck.

2005
The Asian Tsunami in 2004 prompted the commercial radio industry to combine
their resources and mount the unprecedented co-operative effort of Radio Aid that
proceeded to win the Special Award. Christian O'Connell took two awards and
Stephen Nolan one while Danny Baker was declared DJ of the Year. Zane Lowe
took the Music Broadcaster's Award and Jeremy Vine marked his arrival at BBC
Radio 2 by winning the Speech Broadcaster category. This was the year in which
Londoners experienced terrorist bombings at first hand and Radio Foyle joined
BBC Radio 2 as serial winners of the Station of the Year Award.

2006
The two Chris's, Moyles and Evans, have both had the chance to put their mark on
the BBC's breakfast time audiences and both were rewarded in 2006: Moyles for
Entertainment and Evans for Personality. The Community Award has been won by
a widely spaced group of stations over the years but there remains a common
thread: BBC Local Radio. This year it was to be Hereford and Worcester, but there
can be no denying that over the years the Sony judges think that these local radio
stations are in touch with their communities. The Special Award went to BBC
Radio 3 for the Beethoven Experience, a groundbreaking digital download that had
not only brought Beethoven to the masses but had also promoted radio as a
progressive, innovative medium, embracing new technology. Two of those who
had secured awards at the very first ceremony were back for more this year:
Richard Park was the Programmer of the Year and Terry Wogan collected the Gold
Award.

2007
The 25th Anniversary year of the Awards was celebrated in style with Paul
Gambaccini, this year's Gold Award winner, being joined by Sir Terry Wogan, a
multiple Sony Award winner, to host part of the ceremony, starting with the Music
Programme Award which he won in 1983. The late great John Peel was
posthumously awarded The Broadcasters' Broadcaster Award, a special one-off to
mark the anniversary year, voted for by UK broadcasters from a short list of 25
radio icons. The news awards were a reminder of the year's headline events: The
Breaking News Award went to BBC London 94.9 for their coverage of the London
Tornado, and The News Feature Award was won by Whistledown Productions for
Letters from Guantanamo Bay broadcast on Radio 4. Classic FM took UK Station
of the Year, with Virgin Radio winning The Competition Award, and whilst the
London 2012 Olympics logo received a luke warm reception, Planet Rock got the
thumbs up for their Station Imaging by winning gold.   Sony's technological
advances meant that, for the first time ever, the ceremony was relayed across
screens in the Great Room in high definition, and to end the celebrations Sony
hosted an After Show Party headlined by their artist, Natasha Bedingfield.
 
2008
Barak Obama was sworn in as the US President as the UK saw the first signs of
recession and began to feel the effects of tightening budgets. Streamlining of the
entry process began with entrants able to register their entries on-line, and the
industry celebrated two new players, Bauer Radio and Global Radio, who were
welcomed to the ceremony.  The new Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, presented
Capital Radio with the Community Award for their Lights Out London campaign,
a stunned Chris Moyles celebrated receiving the much sought after Breakfast Show
of the Year Award (much to his surprise his mum and dad presented him with his
award) and Dermot O'Leary picked up his first Sony Gold for The Music
Programme Award. Commercial radio won four of the five Station of the Year
Awards and Andi Durrant from the Galaxy Network picked up the Music
Broadcaster of the Year Award. Two 40 year anniversaries were linked to the
emerging Digital age; Jenny Abramsky CBE, received the Special Award in
recognition of 40 years in the industry and for forging co-operation between the
BBC and Commercial radio to enable the UK industry to lead the world in Digital
and Sony, with 40 years in the UK, launched the Sony DAB 'Rising Star' award,
which went to George Lamb.

2009

After 8 years of successfully hosting the Sony Radio Academy Awards, Paul
Gambaccini handed the baton to Chris Evans, who picked up two awards for
Entertainment and Music Radio Personality of the Year.  The entry process was
further improved with mp3 audio files being accepted on-line, whilst the industry
the airwaves. It was not surprising to see strong entries on the Olympic theme, with
BBC Radio 5 live picking up Gold for The Sports Award, LBC's Nick Ferrari
named as Speech Broadcaster of the Year and David Rodigan, Kiss's reggae King,
winning Gold with The Specialist Music Programme Award. There were several
first time Sony Gold wins; Vanessa Feltz of BBC London 94.9 for Speech Radio
Personality of the Year, Absolute Radio for The Live Event Coverage Award and
Electric Radio Brixton for Listener Participation and the Community Award.

2010
As the Ceremony opened in 2010 the country was still holding it's breath to find
out who the new Prime Minister would be before confirmation of the first coalition
Government since World War Two, and with America promising to pull out of
Afghanistan by the summer, BFBS Radio were recognised for their special 60 year
contribution to the UK radio industry, and ongoing commitment to our serving
men and women both on, and behind, the front lines of international conflict. New
opportunities were created in marketing & advertising awards, seeing NME Radio
take Gold for Best Branded Content, and Real Radio North East awarded for their
Vote Joe campaign. Lisa Snowdon and Johnny Vaughan won Best Entertainment
Programme for the Capital 95.8 Breakfast show, whilst Trevor Nelson brought the
house down, receiving the 2010 Gold Award, with a musical tribute coming from
the balcony of the Great Room by The London Community Gospel Choir.

Corporate Governance

Sony is committed to strong corporate governance. As a part of this effort, in 2003,

Sony adopted the "Company with Committees" corporate governance system
under the Companies Act of Japan. In addition to complying with the requirements
of applicable governance laws and regulations, Sony has introduced its own
requirements to help improve the soundness and transparency of its governance by
strengthening the separation of the Directors' function from that of management
and advancing the proper functioning of the statutory committees. Under Sony's
system, the Board of Directors defines the respective areas for which each of the
Corporate Executive Officers is responsible and delegates to them decision-making
authority to manage the business, thereby promoting the prompt and efficient
management of the Sony Group.

Governance Structure
 (Updated on August 31, 2010)
Sony Corporation is governed by its Board of Directors, which is appointed by
resolution at the shareholders' meeting. The Board has three committees (the
Nominating Committee, Audit Committee and Compensation Committee),
consisting of Directors named by the Board of Directors. Corporate Executive
Officers are appointed by resolution of the Board of Directors. In addition to these
statutory bodies and positions, Sony has Corporate Executives who carry out
business operations within designated areas.

Primary Roles of the Governance Entities

(Updated on August 31, 2010)
Board of Directors:

 Determines the fundamental management policies of the Sony Group

 Oversees the management of Sony Group's business operations
 Appoints and dismisses the statutory committee members
 Appoints and dismisses Representative Corporate Executive Officers and
Corporate Executive Officers

Nominating Committee:

 Determines the content of proposals regarding the appointment/dismissal of

Directors

Audit Committee:
 Monitors the performance of duties by Directors and Corporate Executive
Officers (with respect to structure to ensure the adequacy of the financial reporting
process, to enable management to ensure the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting, to ensure timely and appropriate disclosure and to ensure
compliance with any applicable law, Articles of Incorporation and internal policies
and rules and status of any other items described in the "Internal Control and
Governance Framework" determined or reaffirmed by the Board of Directors in
accordance with the Companies Act of Japan.) Also monitors the performance of
duties by Directors by attending the Nominating Committee or Compensation
Committee and reviewing the Business Report and the documents relating to the
proxy statement.
 Reviews the Business Report, including the Company's financial statements,
and expresses its opinion in the Audit Committee's Audit Report as well as its
opinion as to the performance of duties by the Directors and the Corporate
Executive Officers and the work of the Independent Auditor.
 Oversees and evaluates the work of the independent auditor (including to
evaluate the adequacy of its independence and its qualification, to propose its
appointment/dismissal or non-reappointment, to approve its compensation, to
evaluate the appropriateness of its audit regarding the financial results and internal
control over financial reporting, and to pre-approve its engagement for any
services other than audit services to be provided)

Compensation Committee:

 Sets policy on the contents of individual compensation for Directors,

Corporate Executive Officers, Corporate Executives and Group Executives, and
determines the amount and content of individual compensation of Directors and
Corporate Executive Officers in accordance with the policy

Corporate Executive Officers:

 Make decisions regarding the execution of Sony Group business activities

within the scope of the authority delegated to them by the Board of Directors

Corporate Executives:

 Carry out business operations within designated areas, including business

units, headquarters functions, and/or research and development, in accordance with
the fundamental policies determined by the Board of Directors and the Corporate
Executive Officers
 Sony Initiatives
(Updated on August 31, 2010)
To strengthen its governance structure beyond legal requirements, Sony
Corporation includes several provisions in its Charter of the Board of Directors to
ensure the separation of the Board of Directors from the execution of business, and
to advance the proper functioning of the statutory committees. The main provisions
are as follows:

 separating the roles of the Board chairperson/vice chairperson and

Representative Corporate Executive Officers;
 limiting the number of terms of outside Directors;
 appointing chairs of statutory committees from the ranks of outside
Directors;
 setting forth qualifications for Directors for the purpose of eliminating
conflicts of interest and ensuring independence;
 raising the minimum number of Nominating Committee members (five or
more) and requiring that at least two Directors of the Committee be Corporate
Executive Officers;
 suggesting that, as a general rule, at least one Director of the Compensation
Committee be a Corporate Executive Officer
 prohibiting the appointment of the CEO or COO of the Sony Group (or
persons in any equivalent position) to serve on the Compensation Committee; and
 discouraging the concurrent appointment of Audit Committee members to
other committees.

Meeting Record
(Updated on August 31, 2010)
During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010, the Board of Directors convened
nine times. The Nominating Committee met six times, the Audit Committee met
13 times and the Compensation Committee met five times. All 12 outside Directors
participated in all meetings of the Board of Directors held during his/her tenure
period of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010 except for Yoshihiko Miyauchi,
Fujio Cho and Yukako Uchinaga. (Yoshihiko Miyauchi participated in eight
meetings out of nine; Fujio Cho participated in eight meetings out of nine; Yukako
Uchinaga participated in seven meetings out of nine.) Also, all 12 outside Directors
who are members of Committees participated in at least 75 percent of the
aggregate number of meetings of each Committee held during the fiscal year ended
March 31, 2010, except for Yukako Uchinaga (Yukako Uchinaga was a member of
the Nominating Committee and participated in two meetings out of six held during
her tenure period of the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010.) All three outside
Directors who are members of the Audit Committee participated in all meetings of
the Audit Committee held during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2010.
Cooperation of the Audit Committee and the Internal Audit Division
(Updated on August 31, 2010)
Sony Corporation has an Internal Audit Division, which coordinates closely with
the internal audit departments of major subsidiaries around the world to promote
Sony Group's internal audit activities on a global basis. The Sony Corporation
Internal Audit Division makes periodic presentations and submits monthly reports
to the Audit Committee. To help assure its independence, the appointment and
dismissal of the person in charge of the Sony Corporation Internal Audit Division
is subject to the prior approval of the Audit Committee.
Governance Related to the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act
(Updated on August 31, 2010)
The United States adopted the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) in 2002 in response to a
series of U.S. accounting scandals and corporate governance abuses. Sony is
subject to the SOX regulations because it is a foreign private issuer of equity
securities registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and
subject to SEC reporting requirements. Among other requirements, SOX requires
the CEO and the CFO of Sony Corporation to sign certain certifications to
accompany the Sony Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC, relating to
the "fair presentation" of the consolidated financial statements, disclosure controls
and procedures, and internal control over financial reporting. Sony has established
"Disclosure Controls and Procedures," outlining the process through which
potentially material information is reported from important business units,
subsidiaries, affiliated companies and corporate divisions and is reviewed and
considered for disclosure in light of its materiality to the Sony Group. The
"Disclosure Committee," comprised of officers and senior management of the
Sony Group who oversee investor relations, accounting, corporate planning, legal,
corporate communications, finance, internal audit and human resources, supervises
the preparation of Sony's annual reports, current reports, quarterly earnings
releases and other material disclosure, and assists the CEO and CFO in the
establishment and implementation of this system and also in undertaking
appropriate and timely disclosure. Effective since the fiscal year ended March 31,
2007, SOX also requires the inclusion of a management report on the company's
internal control over financial reporting in the Form 20-F. In order to ensure
compliance with this requirement, Sony formed a cross-functional steering
committee comprised of headquarters management to monitor necessary actions
including documentation, testing and evaluation of controls and to perform
oversight and assessment of the global evaluation. Based on the company's
evaluation, management has concluded that Sony maintained effective internal
control over financial reporting as of March 31,2010.
Board of Directors' Determination Regarding Internal Control and
Governance Framework
(Updated on August 31, 2010)
At a Board meeting held on April 26, 2006, the Board of Directors reaffirmed the
existing internal control and governance framework (including the system
regarding rules and other structure of risk management) and determined to
continue to evaluate and improve such framework going forward, as appropriate.
At a Board meeting held on May 13, 2009 the Board of Directors reaffirmed such
internal control and governance framework, as slightly amended, in effect as of the
date of determination and determined to continue to evaluate and improve such
amended framework going forward, as appropriate. This determination was
required by and met the requirements of the Companies Act of Japan.


Risk Management System

Each Sony Group business unit, subsidiary or affiliated company, and corporate
division is expected to review and assess business risks on a regular basis, and to
detect, communicate, evaluate and respond to risk in their particular business areas.
In addition, Sony Corporation's Corporate Executive Officers have the authority
and responsibility to establish and maintain systems for identifying and controlling
risks with the potential to cause losses or reputational damage to the Sony Group in
the areas for which they are responsible. The Corporate Executive Officer in
charge of Compliance is tasked with promoting and managing the establishment
and maintenance of such risk management systems through the coordinated
activities of the Group Risk, Compliance, Internal Audit and other relevant groups.