MUMBAI: US media conglomerate News Corp?s cable network FX has cast ?House of Cards? star Corey Stoll in the lead role in its drama pilot The Strain, based on the vampire novel trilogy from Academy Award winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro and author Chuck Hogan.

Del Toro and Hogan will co-write the pilot script, with del Toro attached to direct. Writer and producer Carlton Cuse will be an executive producer and oversee the series with Del Toro. He will serve as showrunner as the pilot goes to series. Hogan and Gary Ungar will also serve as Executive Producers. FX Productions will produce.

?The Strain? is a one-hour thriller that tells the story of Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Stoll), the head of the center for Disease Control Canary Team in New York City. He and his team are called upon to investigate a mysterious viral outbreak with hallmarks of an ancient and evil strain of vampirism. As the strain spreads, Eph, his team, and an assembly of everyday New Yorkers, wage war for the fate of humanity itself.

del Toro said, "To me, having the right lead for The Strain series was perhaps the most important creative task. To be able to secure the perfect actor in Corey Stoll sets the project on the right track. To embody a character like Ephraim Goodweather - who transitions through every emotion and situation imaginable, and which anchors the narrative of the series - requires amazing talent and craft. Corey has both in spades as he has demonstrated it over and over again."

Stoll had a breakout role in the Netflix series ?House of Cards? and the Sundance Film Festival entry, David Sedaris? adaptation of ?Cog?. Stoll was recently cast in the feature films ?This is Where I Leave You?, where he will portray the brother of Jason Bateman?s character and ?The Good Lie?, which chronicles a young refugee of the Sudanese Civil War who wins a lottery for relocation to the US with three other lost boys. He just wrapped the indie film ?The Glass Chin?.

MUMBAI: The issue over Barry Diller-backed Aereo airing TV channels without giving compensation threatens to snowball into a major issue, with News Corp COO Chase Carey saying the media conglomerate is exploring options including going pay.

News Corp will take Fox off the air and make it a cable channel unless American courts stop Internet company Aereo from retransmitting shows like "The Simpsons" without the network?s permission.

A US Appeals Court last week rejected a plea by broadcasters to shut down Aereo. Coming on the front foot, Carey said News Corp will not just sit idle and allow content to be actively stolen. "It is clear that the broadcast business needs a dual revenue stream from both ads and subscription to be viable. We simply cannot provide the type of quality sports, news, and entertainment content that we do from an ad-supported only business model. We have no choice but to develop business solutions that ensure we continue to remain in the driver?s seat of our own destiny. One option could be converting the Fox broadcast network to a pay channel, which we would do in collaboration with both our content partners and affiliates.?

He reiterated that News Corp has a long-standing commitment to the broadcast television business, and to delivering the highest-quality entertainment, sports and news programming to viewers on a localised basis. "We are committed to broadcasting under a business model where programmers receive fair compensation from parties that want to redistribute our product while continuing to make our product available for free to individual consumers that want to access our signal.?

Carey added: ?We believe that Aereo is pirating our broadcast signal. We will continue to aggressively pursue our rights in the courts, as well as pursue all relevant political avenues, and we believe we will prevail.

MUMBAI: News Corp is launching FXX, a network for young adults, on 2 September in the US market.

The channel will replace Fox Soccer, which lost the EPL rights. With the addition of FXX, FX Networks will become a suite of three networks consisting of FX, FXX and FXM.

Fox Soccer?s matches, including the Uefa Champions League fixtures, will be transferred to Fox Sports 1, a new channel that will also likely launch later this year.

FXX will be available in 74 million homes in the first year, making it one of the most widely distributed entertainment networks ever for an ad-supported cable network in its inaugural year.

FXX initially will be built on a foundation of original comedy series, movies and acquired series, and expand to include original drama series, all primarily designed to attract young adults 18-34.

FX, the flagship of FX Networks, will continue to offer original comedy and drama series, movies and acquired series targeted to Adults 18-49. FX will increase the number of drama series and begin offering limited series and miniseries.

FXM will continue to be home to prestige movies, and related short-form original programming. As its universe grows, it will begin to televise its own limited series and miniseries.

FX Networks president, GM John Landgraf said, "This is a landmark day in the almost 20-year history of FX Networks. As we add FXX to become a suite of three channels, FX will remain the foundation of the brand, which is why we chose to include it in the names of each of our three networks. We will maintain the exceptional quality associated with the FX brand, a reputation we have established with consumers through our numerous, award-winning hit comedy and drama series for more than a decade.

"With this expansion, FX, FXX and FXM will specifically target one of the three major adult demos, enabling us to focus on creating passionate engagement across the entire range of adult viewers ages 18 to 54. This will enable the FX Networks to deliver more impressions and gain greater reach across all key adult demos without falling into the ?all things to all people? pitfall that plagues broadcast television.

"We are embarking on an incredibly ambitious ramp-up of programme development and production required to sustain these networks. I?m very confident that the pilots, projects and talent we have deals with will allow us to double our already best-in-class roster of scripted original series over the next several years. Our three-network platform will enable us to achieve even greater goals and solidify our position as a leader in quality scripted original programming."

FX Networks will invest in original programming and ramp up its development and pilot production slate, more than doubling its current offerings to feature 25 scripted original series across the three networks over the next three years.

Also, additional season orders have been placed for returning series including ?Justified?, ?It?s Always Sunny In Philadelphia?, ?The League? and ?Legit?. The late night series ?Totally Biased? with W. Kamau Bell will become a five-nights-per-week strip.

MUMBAI: News Corp?s Asian subsidiary Star Entertainment has offloaded its 5.28 per cent stake in Chinese media company Phoenix Satellite Television for approximately $92 million.

Following the sale, the Hong Kong-based television broadcaster?s total ownership stake in Phoenix will be reduced to approximately 12.16 per cent.

News Corp Deputy COO James Murdoch said, "Mr Liu Changle and Phoenix?s accomplishments in the media industry in China are remarkable. We believe the company?s strong position in all of the segments in which it operates, combined with the country?s robust consumer market, will continue to drive growth. Today?s sale is simply a part of our broader global agenda of simplifying our affiliate ownership structures.?
The move comes ahead of News Corp?s planned division into two distinctly owned public companies, one that will house the publishing business and the other under which the television and entertainment business will fall.