Murdoch to head TV and film business following News Corp split

News Corp has formerly announced its intent to separate its TV and films businesses from its publishing companies but Rupert Murdoch has denied that this means he will look again at taking full control of UK pay TV operator BSkyB.

News Corp will form two publicly listed companies, with one dealing with its media and entertainment assets and the other focussing on newspapers, book publishing and education. Murdoch will become president and CEO of the media and entertainment business that will include 20th Century Fox, the Fox network, Sky Italia, Sky Deutschland and a 39.1% stake in UK pay TV operator BSkyB, with Chase Carey acting as COO.

The split will mean that these operations will be managed separately from the UK newspaper business that is in the middle of a phone-hacking scandal. Murdoch said the company had been planning to split for three years and that the decision had nothing to do with events in the UK. “We’re doing it purely as a business decision that the company would be better in this way,” he told Bloomberg TV.

News Corp said the split was likely to take 12 months to finalise.

“News Corporation’s 60-year heritage of developing world-class media brands has resulted in a large and unparalleled portfolio of diversified assets. We recognise that over the years, News Corporation’s broad collection of assets have become increasingly complex. We determined that creating this new structure would simplify operations and greater align strategic priorities, enabling each company to better deliver on our commitments to consumers across the globe.”