News Corp split could be part of bigger masterplan A split would also help to prevent the contagion at News Corp's newspaper business from spreading to other parts of the group. The scandals over phone hacking and payments to police by News of the World journalists have trashed News Corp's reputation in Britain, but it is their threat to wreak havoc on the other side of the Atlantic that has investors really worried. The media business is the subject of investigations by both the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which might take years to reach their conclusions but could have severe consequences. News Corp investors have stepped up pressure on the company to spin off its newspaper assets as fast as possible, to cut out the cancer of the hacking scandal before it gets any worse. Of course, distancing News Corp's television assets from its damaged newspapers could prove useful if the DoJ and FBI investigations find against Mr Murdoch's son James, News Corp's deputy chief operating officer , who was in charge of News International at the time of the hacking investigation. It could also dampen some of the corporate governance concerns clouding News Corp's long-held ambition to take full control of BSkyB, the pay-TV operator in which it holds a 39pc stake. However, these are not the only likely motivations behind Mr Murdoch's apparent change of tack. Splitting News Corp into two separate companies may well be the first step in a more drastic plan. The Murdochs are expected to take 40pc of the voting stock in each of the listed companies, reflecting their current level of control of the entire News Corp empire, but sources do not expect their shareholdings to remain at this level for long. Instead, Mr Murdoch, recognising the diminishing powers of his newspapers to influence the political landscape, could sell the family's interests in the News Corp publishing business and invest those funds in the television and film business instead. The move would hand his family a majority stake in News Corp, priming it to take the company private in a leveraged buy-out. Shaking off those pesky shareholders would allow Mr Murdoch to return to running the company as he sees fit and to reinstate his long-held plan for James to succeed him. True, it sounds a bit like a game of chess. But if history shows one thing it is that Mr Murdoch always has his eye on the next move. And if shows another, it is that he wants to be able to pass News Corp on to his children - just as his father handed the Adelaide Advertiser to him - and to have the sprawling media empire he has pieced together over a lifetime remain synonymous with the Murdoch name.