Fox To Keep, Expand NYC Headquarters

Twenty-First Century Fox and News Corp., the separate media giants controlled by Rupert Murdoch, have locked in plans to keep and expand their headquarters on Sixth Avenue’s famed “corporate row.” The two companies, sources said, just signed extension and expansion leases totaling more than 1.2 million square feet at 1211 Sixth Ave.

News Corp Paid Rupert Murdoch $5.3M In ’15

News Corp. paid executive chairman Rupert Murdoch $5.3 million in 2015, according to SEC filings made Wednesday by the company that houses the Wall Street Journal and HarperCollins as well as UK newspaper assets and cable networks like Foxtel and Fox Sports Australia.

News Corp Invests $10M In AppNexus

The ad tech company just raised a $31 million funding round, led by News Corp’s investment with Yahoo Japan also participating. The fact that two major publishers are the lead investors is likely a signal of intent towards AppNexus — and potentially away from the dominant publisher ad tech platform Google DoubleClick.

News Corp. Denies Rumors Of Twitter Bid

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. said rumors about the company’s interest in buying microblogging site Twitter Inc. or building a stake in it were untrue. Twitter’s shares, which rose as much as 14% on Wednesday, pared some gains and closed up 4.1% at $17.38.

Murdoch: Obama Isn’t ‘Real Black President’

News Corp. President Rupert Murdoch was praising Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson and his wife on Twitter Wednesday evening when he wrote: “Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide?”

Marc Frons To Head News Corp. Tech, Mobile

Former New York Times technology chief Marc Frons is joining News Corp. as SVP and global head of mobile platforms and deputy head of technology. In the new role, he will report to News Corp. CTO Paul Cheesbrough.

Former News Corp Eexec Threatens To ‘Tell Everything’

Rebekah Brooks To Return To News Corp.

News UK, Rupert Murdoch’s British media operation, announced the return of the woman who was chief executive during the phone-hacking scandal four years ago. She was acquitted and will be back at work on Monday.

News Corp. To Pay Dividend To Shareholders

News Corp., Fox Move Toward 2 WTC Deal

Media giants News Corp. and 21st Century Fox have signed a “non-binding” letter of intent to build a new skyscraper at 2 World Trade Center, significantly advancing the companies’ effort to find a new headquarters and moving the long-stalled office tower one step closer to fruition.

News Corp., Fox May Move NYC Headquarters

News Corp. and 21st Century Fox, whose properties include Fox News Channel and The Wall Street Journal, have been in discussions for months to build a joint headquarters in an 88-story skyscraper at New York’s World Trade Center, officials said.

Rebekah Brooks Returns To The Murdoch Fold

Rebekah Brooks, the former CEO of News Corp.’s U.K. subsidiary, will return to work under Rupert Murdoch eight months after being cleared of phone-hacking charges. Brooks, 46, will rejoin Murdoch-controlled News Corp. to take a senior role with Dublin-based Storyful, a startup that helps newsrooms find and vet video content from across the Web, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Billionaire Alwaleed Sells $190M News Corp. Stake

Justice Drops Murdoch Hacking Investigation

Rupert Murdoch can breath a large sigh of relief at the dissipation of a major legal threat hanging over his corporate empire. In a filing with federal securities regulators, his companies have disclosed that the U.S. Justice Department has decided not to prosecute them for possible violations of U.S. federal law. The federal investigation stemmed from the phone hacking scandal that consumed his British tabloids. A prosecution could have complicated the ability of 21st Century Fox to maintain control of its 28 U.S. television stations.

Longtime News Corp. Exec Ian Rae Dies At 78

News Corp. Said Interested In Tribune Papers

Rumor has it that News Corp — with a $2.5 billion cash kitty for acquisitions — may be mounting a new bid for the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune and the six other Tribune newspapers.

U.S. Investigation Of News Corp Continues

More than a year after asking for and receiving emails from News Corp.’s U.S. operation related to allegations of phone hacking and bribery, the FBI still is investigating whether British-based representatives of the media company may have broken U.S. law, according to sources familiar with the matter. Sources say the FBI probe has not ended even though some former senior aides to Rupert Murdoch were acquitted of charges by a British criminal court jury.

Murdoch Sons Upped At 21st Century Fox

Rupert Murdoch has elevated son Lachlan to the top of his multi-billion dollar family media empire after a seven-year break, appointing him non-executive co-chairman of both News Corp. and 21st Century Fox Inc. The media mogul also gave his younger son James a bigger role as co-COO at 21st Century Fox, two years after he resigned as chairman of British broadcaster BSkyB following a parliamentary investigation into phone hacking.

News Corp. Buys Storyful For $25 Million

The newspaper publisher will use Storyful’s tools to drive engagement and revenue across News Corp’s businesses. The social news agency will operate as a standalone business unit within News Corp and will continue to work with its existing clients.

Hacking Scandal Could Cost News Corp £1B

The final cost of the News of the World hacking scandal could rise to 1 billion pounds ($161.6 billion), according to a private assessment made by former News International CEO Tom Mockridge. He also warned that without the deep pockets of News International (now News UK) parent company News Corp, The Sun, Times and Sunday Times would all have been put out of business by the hacking scandal.

Murdoch’s Pay Takes 3.7% Dip To $28.9M

21st Century Fox Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch’s overall compensation declined slightly in fiscal 2013, to $28.9 million. During the previous year, Murdoch had a $30-million compensation package. That was nearly 10% lower than his fiscal 2011 earnings of $33.3 million.

News Corp Launches Global Ad Exchange

News Corp. announced plans to launch a global programmatic ad exchange that will let advertisers buy across its more than 50 online and mobile products including WSJ.com, Times.co.uk and NYPost.com.

News Corp. Buys Foreign Online Soccer Rights

Murdoch Keeping Succession Plan Secret

Rupert Murdoch may know who will succeed him at News Corp. and 21st Century Fox, but he’s not sharing. “We have them,” Murdoch said in response to questions about succession plans, adding that it was a matter for the board of directors. “But they’re not public. The board knows them.”

Rupert Murdoch To Appear Before Parliament

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch will accept an invitation to appear before a committee of the British Parliament to discuss taped comments he made about a police investigation into journalists’ phone hacking and alleged illicit payments to British authorities. Murdoch’s comments, secretly recorded during his visit to the News Corp.-owned Sun tabloid in March, have exploded into a controversy over whether the press baron was condoning the payments to officials by suggesting such behavior was part of the “culture of Fleet Street.”

Murdoch Belittled British Police In Recording

Rupert Murdoch belittled a British police inquiry into bribes allegedly paid by his journalists in a secret recording made by his staff, in sharp contrast to the profuse public apologies he made to defuse anger at newsgathering practices.

On 1st Trading Day, Fox +2%, News Corp. -5%

On the first day of trading as separate companies, Rupert Murdoch’s television and movie empire, 21st Century Fox, gained nearly 2% while the publishing company ended the day down 5%. Still, the publishing entity, which took the name News Corp., largely held its own with investors.

News Corp. 21st Century Fox Proclaim ‘Day 1’

To herald its split into two companies, News Corp and 21st Century Fox have taken out two-page ads in publications including The New York Times, Washington Post and the Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal trumpeting “Day 1.”

News Corp. Split Means Big Test For Stocks

News Corp. completed the spinoff of its publishing assets Friday, setting the stage for both companies to prove themselves on the open market. Shares for both companies began early trading on June 19, but normal trading will begin this week.

News Corp., 21st Century Fox Split Today

Rupert Murdoch bowed to investor pressure to split his six-decade-old publishing business from the rest of News Corp.’s media empire. Now it’s time for the newspaper unit to prove it can make it on its own. The publishing unit officially becomes independent today, losing the backing of News Corp.’s entertainment business as it pursues growth in a declining industry. The newspaper company, which will keep the News Corp. name, is valued at about $8.9 billion — a seventh the level of entertainment business, now called 21st Century Fox.

Murdoch’s News Intl. Rebrands As News UK

News Corp. Spinoffs Start Preliminary Trading

News Corp’s publishing and entertainment arms began trading separately on a preliminary basis today, one of the last steps before Rupert Murdoch’s company officially splits in two on June 28.

News Corp. CFO Retires, Nallen New 21st CFO

News Corp. said its Chief Financial Officer David DeVoe would retire following the company’s separation into two business at the end of June. The company said Deputy CFO John Nallen will become CFO of 21st Century Fox, which will hold News Corp.’s media and entertainment businesses after the split.

Rupert Murdoch Files For Divorce From Wendi Deng

LOS ANGELES (AP) — News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has filed for divorce from Wendi Deng Murdoch, his wife since 1999, citing a breakdown in the relationship. The matter doesn’t […]

Shareholders Approve Plan To Split News Corp.

PHONE-HACKING SCANDAL

Top Murdoch Exec Denies Hacking Charges

Rebekah Brooks appeared in court on today and denied five counts relating to Britain’s phone hacking scandal, which forced the closing of one of its biggest tabloids.

News Corp. Unveils Its Post-Split Logo

Robert Thomson, the CEO of the publishing firm that will retain the company name after the separation says the new logo will be “our emblem for this future. The name is historic and the script is based on the writing of Rupert and his father who have provided us all with not only a name, but a remarkable professional platform.”

News Corp. Board Approves Company Split

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. moved closer to the planned breakup of the $76-billion global media conglomerate as board members this week formally approved the split. June 28 is the target separation date.

EARNINGS CALL

Carey: Broadcasters Need To Break Rules

It isn’t the kind of thing a network exec wants to admit the week before broadcasters open the upfront ad sales season. But the News Corp COO, in a quarterly call with analysts, couldn’t avoid the fact that this season’s ratings declines show “it’s not been a great year for the broadcast business overall from a creative perspective.” Carey says it’s time for networks to “discard a few habits and rules and take some shots. Hopefully next week will be the beginning of that process.”

QUARTERLY REPORT

News Corp. Fiscal 3Q TV Revenue Up 1.4%

The increase to $196 million was driven by a near doubling of retransmission consent revenues and lower programming costs at the Fox broadcast TV network.