• The Wrap, Tuesday, June 2, 2009 10 AM

Chase Carey, the CEO of DirecTV, is being recruited to become the second in command at News Corp, replacing Peter Chernin when he steps down after the end of his contract in June. Insiders say the only hitch is whether DirecTV will allow Carey out of his contract early. It is up at the end of this year.

That situation may be complicated by the fact that Liberty Media, the major stakeholder in DirecTV, is seeking to spin out about half the company and sell it to the public.

Efforts to recruit Carey represent a shift in News Corp.'s post-Chernin management plan. Chairman Rupert Murdoch initially said he would not be replacing Chernin, and he reshuffled the management structure to give more responsibility to his current executives. But the prospect of hiring Carey apparently changed his mind. Though Carey has been at DirecTV since 2003, Murdoch considers him a News Corp insider. News Corp was a majority shareholder in DirectTV until about 18 months ago, when the company sold its stake. From 1998 to 2002, Carey was co-chief operating officer of News Corp.'s Fox Entertainment Group.

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