Financial News Network

Description

Today, News Corp. officially announced plans to split into two separate publicly traded companies. One of the companies will focus on News Corp's booming film and television assets, including 20th Century Fox film studio, Fox News Channel, and Fox broadcast news. The other company will include News Corp's publishing assets, such as the Wall Street Journal, The Times of London, and HarperCollins book publishing. The company's publishing assets have struggled recently in the wake of a phone hacking scandal in Great Britain. In News Corp's last quarterly earnings report, entertainment revenues came to $6.2 billion, while publishing assets only brought in $2 billion. Chief Executive Rupert Murodch will serve as chairman of both companies. He will also be CEO for the entertainment-focused company. No word yet on who will serve as CEO on the publishing side, but Murdoch has dismissed fears that the publishing company will not be able to stand on its own. The transaction will take roughly a year to complete. News of the split's possibility caused News Corp shares to rise sharply over the past couple of days. At the moment, however, shares are down slightly 1.52% at $22.07 a share.