News Corp. Advances Plan to Split Up

WSJ ^ | Updated June 26, 2012, 8:54 p.m. ET | JOHN JANNARONE And DANA CIMILLUCA

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News Corp.'s board is set to decide Wednesday whether to proceed with a split of the media conglomerate into two companies, carving the bigger and more profitable entertainment businesses from the newspapers.

If the board approves the split, News Corp. is expected to announce the restructuring Thursday morning, said a person familiar with the situation. News Corp. stock jumped 8.3% Tuesday to its highest level since 2007 after the company confirmed it was contemplating a split, without giving any details.

News Corp. is mulling splitting its 20^th Century Fox film studio, Fox broadcast network and Fox News channel from its newspapers, book publishing assets and education businesses. News Corp.'s publishing assets include The Wall Street Journal, the Times of London, the Sun and The Australian newspaper, as well as HarperCollins book publishing.

Executives from parts of News Corp., including editors from newspapers, were briefed in New York Tuesday on the potential restructuring.

The idea of the breakup is front and center almost exactly a year after a scandal blew up with the revelation that one of News Corp.'s U.K. tabloids had hacked the voice mail of a missing 13-year-old girl who turned out to be murdered. The scandal forced the closure of the News of the World newspaper, resignations of several senior executives and abandonment of News Corp.'s bid for the 61% of British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC it doesn't already own. …