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.

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. 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, 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 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.

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.”

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.”

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 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.

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

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 alter the succession plan for the media company, which the 82-year-old founder controls through a family trust. Murdoch filed a one-page document Thursday indicating that […]

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.

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.”

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.

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.”

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.

The Media Bureau says that that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington did not supply the proof the agency needs to pursue a character-qualification case against a U.S. station licensee. CREW claimed that News Corp.-owned Fox “lacks the requisite character to hold broadcast licenses here in the United States” due to the parent company’s phone-hacking scandal in the United Kingdom.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. will hold a special meeting June 11 for shareholders to vote on amendments needed to authorize the company’s plan to break into two separate publicly traded entities.

The insurers backing News Corp.’s board will pay the company $139 million shareholder lawsuits over the British phone hacking scandal. The cash, after subtracting fees for the plaintiffs’ lawyers, will benefit shareholders indirectly by going into the company’s coffers.

News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has settled on a name for the entertainment and media company that will split off from the media conglomerate’s publishing division — 21st Century Fox.

Hulu’s board has approached potential buyers to gauge their interest in buying the online video service, three sources close to the company say, as owners News Corp. and Walt Disney Co. weigh what to do with their interests in the five-year-old company. The board sounded out several possible buyers as part of an internal strategic review begun recently, but it has not received a formal offer, one of the sources said on Monday. It was unclear how many parties Hulu had contacted.