News Corp announces plans to split

June 28, 2012 at 9:39a.m.

NEW YORK (AP) — Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. said Thursday that plans to split into two separate companies, one holding its newspaper business and the other its entertainment operations.

Under the proposal, the global media conglomerate will be divided into two publicly traded companies. One entity will operate as a newspaper and book publishing firm. The other will be an entertainment company that includes the 20th Century Fox movie studio, the Fox broadcast TV network and the Fox News channel.

The Murdoch family, which controls nearly 40 percent of the voting shares in News Corp., is expected to maintain control of both companies.