News Corp (FOX) has picked a familiar-sounding appellation for the global media and entertainment assets it plans to spin off into a separate entity. The company is to be known as 21st Century Fox, a name strongly reminiscent of its long-standing film studio Twentieth Century Fox, located in Los Angeles.
Somewhat confusingly, the studio and News Corp's small-screen production unit Twentieth Century Fox Television will both be folded into 21st Century Fox. Other entities under that corporate umbrella will include Fox News Channel, the FX cable network, and National Geographic Channel.
News Corp first proposed the separation of its current business into two separate firms in the summer of 2012. One will contain its global media and entertainment units, and the other will operate its newspapers and information services, among various other businesses. The move is pending final shareholder assent and approval from the appropriate regulatory bodies.
