Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. conglomerate said it was “considering a restructuring” that

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. conglomerate said it was “considering a restructuring” that would split off its larger entertainment division from the struggling publishing businesses.

The New York based company confirmed reports earlier in the day and said the move would “separate its business into two distinct publicly traded companies.”

The statement confirmed a report in the Wall Street Journal, one of the units of the global media-entertainment conglomerate.

The report said the split would carve off the film and television businesses, including 20th Century Fox movie studio, Fox broadcast network and Fox News channel from its newspapers and book publishing assets.

The company’s publishing assets include The Wall Street Journal, New York Post, the Times of London and The Australian newspaper, as well as the HarperCollins book publishing house.

Citing people familiar with the situation, the report said a final decision had yet to be made but Murdoch was warming to the idea.

It said such a plan was not expected to change the Murdoch clan’s effective control of any of the businesses, exercised through the family’s roughly 40 percent voting stake in News Corp.

The possible restructuring follows the phone-hacking scandal in Britain which resulted in the closure of its flagship News of the World tabloid and the resignation of several senior executives.

In March company president Chase Carey, seen as Murdoch’s.

In the most recent quarter ended March 31, profit was up 47 percent to $937 million, as revenues rose two percent to $8.4 billion.

The company said revenues were hurt by advertising declines at the Australian and British newspapers, as well as the closing of The News of the World.

The New York Times reported the conglomerate was seeking to turn the page after the phone-hacking scandal in Britain and boost shareholder value.

Source AP