Shareholders were angry at Mr Murdoch's appointment

James Murdoch is the son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, whose News Corp empire owns 35.4% of the broadcaster.

The company has commissioned a six-month review of its board structure.

It has concluded the board should appoint two more independent directors and streamline its committees, the Financial Times reported.

"They are looking for new independent directors and the company is planning to consolidate a couple of boardroom committees," the newspaper quoted a "person familiar with the plans" as saying.

Anger and scepticism

At 30-years-old, James Murdoch became the youngest person to run a FTSE 100 company when he was appointed BSkyB chief executive in November 2003.

Prominent critics of the recruitment process included the National Association of Pension Funds and the Association of British Insurers.

Mr Murdoch senior was also a member of BSkyB's board, leading shareholders to question the likelihood of a fair appointment.

The search for BSkyB's new chief executive was headed by Lord St John of Fawsley, as he was the senior independent director on the board.

Lord St of Fawsley described the younger Mr Murdoch as "outstanding" among 290 candidates for the top job.

Lord St John of Fawsley, a former Tory cabinet member who has been on BSkyB's board for 13 years, is not expected to stand for re-election to the board, the FT reported.

BSkyB's profits surged in the first half of its current financial year and it restored dividend payments to shareholders for the first time in five years.

It reported an 84% jump in first half operating profits to �283m ($529.5m).