MURDOCH WOOING CHIEF of DIRECTV

News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch is courting a trusted former member of his inner circle, DirecTV Chief Executive Chase Carey, to fill the No. 2 position at the global media conglomerate.

Carey is being sought to succeed Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin, who will leave when his contract expires this month. The onetime News Corp. executive is interested in the position, according to a person close to the situation. However, Carey’s contract with satellite broadcaster DirecTV extends through December 2010. It is not known whether Murdoch would have to pay DirecTV or its largest stakeholder, Liberty Media Corp., for bringing Carey back to the Fox fold.

Carey’s appointment would help calm fears on Wall Street that Chernin’s departure would leave News Corp. without an experienced lieutenant to Murdoch. Carey has won praise from investors for his stewardship of DirecTV, which has gained subscribers in the depth of a recession as the company’s chief competitor, EchoStar Corp., loses ground. He orchestrated a plan to simplify the satellite broadcaster’s ownership and renewed a key NFL contract.

“If you ever wanted to leave DirecTV, this would be the time,” said Thomas Eagan, an analyst with Collins Stewart, an independent financial advisory firm. “All the big, thorny issues have now been resolved.”

Media analyst Jessica Reif Cohen suggested earlier this year that Carey’s return to News Corp. would be an “interesting potential solution” to the management void left by Chernin’s departure. The executive sidestepped the question, telling the Sydney-based newspaper the Australian, “I’m focused on moving DirecTV forward and enjoying what I’m doing with DirecTV.”

The news, first reported by the website TheWrap, came as a surprise to some at DirecTV, where Liberty Media Chairman John Malone holds Carey in high regard and values his strategic skills. For example, Carey understood the importance of high-definition programming to consumers who spend lavishly on big-screen TVs. DirecTV offered an expansive package of high-definition channels that surpassed the offerings on cable, prompting cable subscribers to switch

For those reasons, media executives speculate that Carey’s departure from DirecTV might not come cheap.

Behind the scenes, Murdoch sought to lure Carey with the job that eluded him during his earlier tenure at News Corp. Murdoch initially proposed the role of top advisor, but that went nowhere, according to a person close to the situation. Negotiations became serious, however, when Murdoch discussed a more high-profile role of chief operating officer, overseeing all of News Corp.’s far-flung assets, a job that in February he had said he would not fill. Some News Corp. executives learned about the talks in recent weeks.

A person knowledgeable about the negotiations said Carey’s post would not upset the restructuring of New Corp.’s Los Angeles-based entertainment operations announced in March. Carey would be based in New York, and all of News Corp.’s operations would report to him, the person said.

Carey has held numerous positions within News Corp., including sharing the co-chief operating officer title with Chernin in the late 1990s. Chernin proved the more deft corporate politician, however, and outmaneuvered his more button-down colleague.

Nonetheless, Carey emerged as Murdoch’s right-hand man in negotiating major deals, securing rights for Fox to televise NFL, NHL and Major League Baseball games. He also orchestrated the notorious trade of Dodgers catcher Mike Piazza to the Florida Marlins in 1998 when News Corp. owned the L.A. baseball team.

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dawn.chmielewski @latimes.com

meg.james@latimes.com