Now that news of the News Corp. is officially moving ahead with splitting its vast global media empire, founder and chairman Rupert Murdoch warned analysts and reporters on a conference call this morning that the plan to divide into two companies “is not a fait accompli. There are a lot of steps to take.”

He also said the impetus, hailed by the markets as a smart business move that will unshackle its challenged newspapers from its more profitable entertainment brands, is  “not a reaction to anything in Britain” such as ongoing investigations into his newspapers’ phone hacking and bribery scandals. COO Chase Carey, who will become CEO of the newspaper and publishing assets that Murdoch has built from his days as a scrappy Australian news magnate, added there were “no changes” in the corporate plan to buy the rest of BSkyB it doesn't currently control.

Murdoch, with his inimitable Aussie turn of phrase, discredited rumors that the publishing unit was the weak ‘orphan’ and emphasized the pending split is not a lack of faith in that business.Continue reading...

Following a board meeting this evening in New York, the board of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has approved splitting the company into two publicly traded entities: publishing and entertainment. The Wall Street Journal broke the news, just as it earlier reported that its parent company was contemplating such a move.

According to WSJ the company split would take about a year to approve, dividing assets such as its lucrative FOX broadcast network and TV stations, cable TV channels and 20th Century Fox studio into one company (likely led by Chase Carey, News Corp. deputy chairman, president and COO) and its newspapers, HarperCollins book publishing unit and other publishing assets into another.Continue reading...

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. has confirmed a report in its own newspaper, the Wall Street Journal, that it's considering dividing itself into two companies, separating its publishing division in order to focus on its much larger and more profitable entertainment arm. 

"News Corporation confirmed today that it is considering a restructuring to separate its business into two distinct publicly traded companies," was the comment in its one-sentence statement.

Top editors and publishers from the company’s newspapers gathered in New York (according to the New York Times) to discuss the proposal along with Murdoch, his son James Murdoch, Chase Carey, COO, and Joel I. Klein, CEO of News Corporation’s education division and a trusted adviser.Continue reading...

With everybody whipping through commercials on their DVRs, product placement on prime-time television is fairly prevalent these days. As Seth MacFarlane commented to the New York Times this week, we even speak in brands — "On any give day, how many times do you reference a piece of pop culture or a brand name? I bet it’s a lot more often than we think. 'I’m going across the street to Starbucks.' 'I’ll make a Xerox of it.' Our daily lives are packed with proper nouns of the corporate kind."

So it should come as no surprise that MacFarlane is a champion of brand synergy, as he's showing by leveraging his hit Fox animated series Family Guy to promote his big-screen debut as a director. Even though his R-rated movie Ted doesn't hit theaters until June 29, its foul-mouthed star has already found his way into Family Guy Online, a 3D game extension of the hit animated comedy that launched last fall.

After all, the film is directed, cowritten, and partially voiced by MacFarlane so it was a natural fit to cross-promote the film and television show. And given that Ted is cut from the same cloth as Family Guy (although it's a live-action comedy starring a CGI raunchy, talking teddy bear plus Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis) the movie/game crossover promotion was a no-brainer move for MacFarlane and Fox — and a handful of invited brand partners.Continue reading...

Plenty of people are happy just sitting through a television show, zipping through its commercials via DVR, and soaking in the passive experience.

But plenty are looking to be a little more involved in their entertainment and AT&T is taking the first steps to get them there. The brand just launched an action-adventure drama entitled Daybreak as a tale told through five online films, two websites, and, of course, a smartphone app. And the company didn’t stint on the big names involved. Its creator is Tim Kring, whose latest hit on the small screen is Fox’s Touch with Kiefer Sutherland. The director of the first few episodes: Jon Cassar, who helmed Fox's previous TV series with Sutherland, a little drama you might have heard of called 24.Continue reading...

American Idol crowns winner with record number of votes.

Apple's newly knighted design head Jony Ives "winces" at some past products.

IBM raises concerns about Apple's Siri voice recognition technology, newly touted by John Malkovich.

BMW plans to triple China output.

Deutsche Telekom sale of T-Mobile USA seen as unlikely.

Facebook's botched NASDAQ IPO turns spotlight to NYSE Euronext.

FCC votes today on opening spectrum for wireless medical devices.

Foursquare teams with London 2012 Olympics.

MIT solves ketchup problem that Heinz made famous.

Pizza Hut tests pre-loaded gift cards in India.

President Obama wants U.S. government agencies to launch more mobile apps.

Uniqlo chooses tennis player Novak Djokovic as a brand ambassador.

United and Continental airline merger turbulence affects elite fliers.

Yahoo aims to make Web browsing more visual with Axis launch.

Facebook I.P.O. raises regulatory concerns, as regulators review Morgan Stanley's pre-Facebook IPO actions and the social network's share price drops 18% below IPO price and shareholders worry. NASDAQ is also being sued by an irate investor, while Facebook, its bankers and CEO Mark Zuckerberg are also being sued. One hot commodity: Zuckerberg's post-IPO secret wedding to Priscilla Chan sees Claire Pettibone-designed wedding dress "go viral."

Apple's iPad played a key role in the largest debt restructuring in history, with 100 iPads saving Greece $140 billion. European banks were less prepared for the Greek economic crisis.

SAP to acquire Ariba for $4.3 billion in push into cloud.

Alcatel-Lucent technology made the Internet five times faster.

Amazon's massive cloud business raises questions.

FOX's American Idol lost nearly a quarter of its still-huge audience this season.Continue reading...

Facebook heads into IPO today with record pricing and a strategy to raise money, not hype, WSJ says — but also with persistent questions among brand marketers about the value of advertising, among other challenges. Meanwhile, average investors face long odds on a big Facebook payday, which will make Bono the richest rock star and Mark Zuckerberg richer than Google's co-founders.

Yahoo names new executive team as Alibaba deal apparently looms.

HP plans to slash workforce by up to 30,000, WSJ says.

Bud Light is drawing online buzz from Millennials.

Amazon to sell ads on Kindle Fire welcome screen.

Barneys New York relaunches website.

Coca-Cola bests Pom Wonderful in court in latest round of long-running labeling dispute.Continue reading...