News Corp. Names Viacom UK Board Member Mike Darcey As New Head Of UK Newspaper Unit

From Bloomberg:

News Corp. Names Darcey as Head of U.K. Newspaper Unit

Rupert Murdoch’s U.K. newspaper unit, reeling from a phone-hacking scandal, named its third chief executive officer in less than 18 months as the parent company prepares to split into two.

Mike Darcey, 47 years old and currently chief operating officer at pay-TV operator British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc (BSY), will replace CEO Tom Mockridge, who plans to step down by the end of the year, the company said. Mockridge last year took over from Rebekah Brooks, who quit over the hacking and bribery scandal and faces a criminal trial next year.

News Corp., bowing to pressure from shareholders, agreed in June to break off the publishing assets, which are growing more slowly than its Fox entertainment businesses. The company today named Wall Street Journal editor Robert Thomson to lead the publishing spinoff. Darcey’s task will be to make sure the U.K. publishing business moves on from the scandal, said Warren Johnson, a London-based media consultant at W Communications.

“Getting someone from a trusted and untarnished bit of their organization makes sense,” Johnson said in an interview. “He’s someone from outside the news business but still within the company so he understands how News Corp. (NWSA) works.”

Dropped Takeover

News Corp., based in New York, owns about 39 percent of BSkyB, the U.K.'s biggest pay-TV operator. The company bid 7.8 billion pounds ($12.5 billion) for the rest of BSkyB it didn’t own and then dropped the offer amid the phone-hacking revelations.

BSkyB rose 1.3 percent to 769 pence in London as of 3:02 p.m. while News Corp. gained 0.9 percent to $24.87 in New York.

Mockridge resigned because he wasn’t “comfortable” with the role offered to him amid the separation of Murdoch’s publishing businesses from entertainment, he told staff in an e- mail.

Darcey, who took over as BSkyB COO in November 2006, also sits on the boards of National Geographic Channels International and the U.K. unit of Viacom Inc. (VIAB)'s Nickelodeon TV business. He is also chairman of the board of trustees of the Royal Television Society. Before joining Sky in 1998, he had worked as an economic advisor for 11 years.

Police Probe

News International has been embroiled in government and police probes over phone-hacking at its best-selling Sun daily and the News of the World tabloid, which has been shut down.

News Corp. has spent more than $315 million on civil settlements, legal fees and other costs related to the scandal. More than 80 people have been arrested for intercepting voice mail and bribing public employees. Results from a press-ethics probe last week recommended Britain set up an independent media regulator in response to wrongdoing by journalists.

In addition to being an outsider to the phone-hacking debacle, Darcey brings digital expertise to News International, which is struggling like many of its peers to adapt to online formats amid declining print-based revenue and the migration of readers to the Internet, said Douglas McCabe, a media analyst at Enders Analysis in London.

“There are big changes at all these businesses in order to be able to operate in a digital world, and that’s where Mike’s expertise will be brilliant,” he said. “Sky is one of most forward-thinking media platforms in the world.”

BSkyB said it will divide Darcey’s role among other members of the executive team and isn’t currently searching for a replacement.

Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with News Corp. units in providing financial news and information.

In addition to operating the Wall Street Journal and Times of London, News Corp.’s publishing spinoff will include newspapers in the U.S., U.K. and Australia, as well as the HarperCollins book division, education and marketing assets. News Corp. plans to complete the breakup by the middle of next year.

Also, from The Telegraph:

Mike Darcey: profile

Mike Darcey, an Antipodean like so many of his peers among the senior levels of Rupert Murdoch’s publishing empire, has long been tipped for promotion to one of the key roles with News Corp.

Mike Darcey sits on the boards of National Geographic Channels International and Nickelodeon UK

Mr Darcey, who is replacing his fellow New Zealander Tom Mockeridge as chief executive at New International, publisher of The Sun and The Times, has been chief operating office at BSkyB since November 2006.

As such, he has looked after product development, leading the broadcaster’s push into gaming and its relationship with third parties, including syndication agencies. He previously held the position of director of strategy at BSkyB.

As well as his work at BSkyB, Darcey sits on the boards of National Geographic Channels International and Nickelodeon UK.

He is also on the board of Argos owner, Home Retail Group.

Mr Darcy’s move into an executive role with BSkyB was somewhat of a career change. Prior to this he was an economic advisor with Lexecon, working across a wide range of industries including media and telecoms.

The 47 year-old graduated from Victoria University in Wellington with a degree in Mathematics and Statistics. He also has an MSc from the London School of Economics.

Like many Antipodeans he favours outdoor pursuits in his spare time, skiing, surfing and occasionally playing golf.