News Corp. Planning to Bundle Its ‘Crown Jewels’ in a New Company

News Corp. said Tuesday that it would combine several of its satellite and digital media assets into a single company, a move it has been planning for months.

Peter Chernin, president and chief operating officer of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., told participants at a daylong company-sponsored conference that the company would bundle its “crown jewels” into a single integrated platform to ensure deeper and “stickier” relationships with its customers.

The assets to be incorporated in the new entity, unofficially called Platco, include its stake in News Digital Systems, Asia’s Star TV joint venture with Cable & Wireless HKT Ltd., British Sky Broadcasting and TV Guide International, Chernin said.

The company’s 50% interest in Stream in Italy will also be rolled into the new company.

“The assets have been undervalued separately under the News Corp. umbrella,” Chernin said.

The media company’s long-term strategy is to form the biggest, most widely distributed content platform in the world.

Within a few years, it expects to reach 300 million global households through its new platform.