Report: Disney's Bid For Fox Assets Gains Momentum

For more than six decades, media titan Rupert Murdoch mostly was a buyer, rather than a seller. Not anymore, according to The Wall Street Journal.

In October, Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger phoned Mr. Murdoch, the executive chairman of 21st Century Fox , to propose a purchase that would hive off Fox assets worth some $40 billion. Changes in the media landscape had altered Mr. Murdoch’s thinking. A deal could also clarify the family’s succession plans.

21st Century Fox is worth $60 billion in stock-market value and is a global entertainment giant spanning movies, cable television and broadcasting. Yet the Murdochs are questioning whether the company will be big enough in the years ahead to battle programming distributors such as Netflix Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Comcast Corp. , and advertising behemoths Google and Facebook Inc., people familiar with the family’s thinking say.

While talks with Disney are now advanced and could be completed as early as next week, it isn’t the only contender. Comcast is pursuing Fox assets, too, and the cable giant’s chief executive, Brian Roberts, met Mr. Murdoch at the New York Athletic Club on Monday, people familiar with the situation say.

The sale talks center on the Twentieth Century Fox movie studio, international assets such as Fox’s 39% stake in Sky and its promising Star India business, and U.S. cable networks like FX and National Geographic. Fox News, the Fox broadcast network and the Fox Sports 1 sports channel aren’t on the table.

The elder Mr. Murdoch sees an opportunity to capture a premium price for assets built over his career. He also is embracing the chance to focus more on the news business, long his passion, and less on Hollywood.