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Lachlan Murdoch was named chief executive and chairman of his family’s new television business shortly after his father, Rupert, sold most of the empire to the Walt Disney Company this year.
Making a rare public appearance Thursday at the DealBook conference, Mr. Murdoch examined the family’s latest round of deal making and what it could mean for the family’s other assets. In particular, he spoke about the newspaper business under News Corporation, a roster that includes The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post, as well as The Times and The Sun in Britain.
[Check out the latest from the DealBook conference.]
The sale of Fox’s film and TV studios to Disney prompted a question about whether his 87-year-old father would ever sell The Wall Street Journal, which Rupert Murdoch acquired in 2007 for over $5 billion.
“I never thought we’d sell the TV studio, the film studio, so who knows?” Mr. Murdoch, 47, responded. In the next breath, he said of his father: “He loves journalism. He loves The Wall Street Journal and what it represents.”
The businesses that will remain under the control of the Murdochs after the close of the Disney deal early next year will center on news and sports. That means Mr. Murdoch will run Fox News, the Fox Broadcasting network and the FS1 cable sports network.
Fox News, in particular, has come under heavy criticism for its close ties to the Trump administration. The president tends to favor the network, often calling into its morning show, “Fox and Friends,” or speaking privately with its prime-time star Sean Hannity. That has led to charges from critics that Fox News, and the larger Murdoch TV business, is actually a red state media organization.
Mr. Murdoch disagreed. “I think about it as an all-state media organization,” he said. He added later: “We program to everyone. It’s to the coasts, but also everywhere in between.”
He cited figures that showed more Fox viewers are tuned to its sober news segments than to the fiery opinion hours. “I think a lot of people don’t realize that,” he said.
And what does he think about the fact that Mr. Trump likes Fox News so much?
“I think he dislikes us less than everyone else,” Mr. Murdoch said. Referring to a couple of anchors and the correspondent Geraldo Rivera, he added, “If you look at Shepard Smith, if you’ll look at Chris Wallace — Geraldo was on ‘Fox and Friends’ this morning criticizing the president — there are huge hours a day with guest contributors who don’t agree with President Trump.”
Mr. Murdoch said he didn’t envision changing the Fox News anchor desk anytime soon. And he appeared to rule out a return of Megyn Kelly, the former star of NBC’s “Today” show, to the fold for now.
“I’m a big fan of Megyn’s,” he said. “I like her a lot. We didn’t want her to leave Fox when she did. Having said that, I am very happy with our current lineup on Fox. We won’t be making any changes there.”
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