Murdoch family may not be unified about breaking up Fox
James Murdoch may be the odd man out if his father decides to break up Fox after some five decades in the media and entertainment business
By Leon Lazaroff
Whether or not the Murdoch family actually would break up Twenty-First Century Fox Inc.
has become a media industry parlour game with few rivals.
After some five decades in the media and entertainment business, Rupert Murdoch may sell his movie and TV studios as well as Fox’s international distribution networks in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Australia. Fox executives have been talking with their counterparts at Comcast Corp., owner of NBCUniversal, about selling those assets. In recent weeks, Fox officials also were talking with Walt Disney Co. about unloading everything except the Fox broadcast network, its sports programming and local TV station group and the Fox News Channel.
That the Murdochs didn’t initiate conversations with Comcast and Disney may no longer be important. What is important is that talks have proceeded, taking on a life of their own.
Neil Chenoweth, a senior writer with The Australian Financial Review and the author of a series of books on Rupert Murdoch, takes a more nuanced view on what may happen to Fox in the coming weeks. The Murdoch family — meaning Rupert and his sons, Lachlan and James — may not be particularly unified about Fox’s future, he told TheStreet.