23 Iain Holden

commercial director, Sky Business (22)

Why he's on the list:

It's fair to say Holden has not featured on the Christmas card list of many licensees. This year, his yuletide mail may well increase after he unveiled a price freeze in the light of the trade facing a difficult year over the smoking ban. Holden believes Sky's live Premiership soccer package to pubs generates some £2bn in revenue for the industry. For next season, Setanta, the rival operator, has grabbed the rights to Monday night games, although their package is also being offered through Sky.

What the past year has held:

Sky's annual announcement of its commercial subscriptions usually heralds a chorus of protest from hard-pressed pub companies and licensees and last year was no exception. The new deal, unveiled last month, however, offered hosts a tantalising price freeze on mainstream services provided they signed up for a new package of discounted Monday-night matches. Many hosts were left with the difficult decision of whether to go for it while still not knowing details of the basic subscription. Any hosts who dare take Sky using a domestic contract may now think again after a Hampshire licensee became the first to lose his personal licence, for doing just that.

Challenges ahead:

The thorny issue of live foreign Saturday-afternoon broadcasts must still exercise minds at Sky, even though policing and prosecutions in this area are the responsibility of Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT). Despite numerous recent court victories for FACT the main protagonists in the dispute refuse to throw in the towel. A successful prosecution of an equipment supplier, tipped to happen over the next few months, could finally clear the air once and for all.