Sky Deutschland promotes James Murdoch to chair board

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German pay-TV broadcaster Sky Deutschland has named News Corp's James Murdoch as chairman of its supervisory board, promoting him after just five months on the board. James Murdoch is deputy chief operating officer of 21st Century Fox and son of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, who controls News Corp. He was brought onto the Sky Deutschland board in April 2013, a reflection of News Corp's growing stake and influence in the company. Sky Deutschland also hoped to benefit from his knowledge of international markets and new technologies. News Corp began building a stake in Sky Deutschland, formerly known as Premiere, in 2008 but the group split its publishing and entertainment properties at the end of June, meaning the movie studio, TV and cable holdings are now part of 21st Century Fox. 21st Century Fox now owns the resulting 54.8 percent share in Sky Deutschland. James Murdoch takes over the chairman's post at Sky Deutschland from Chase Carey, president and chief operating officer of 21st Century Fox (Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Anthony Barker)