Murdoch does not endorse son

NEW YORK - Rupert Murdoch acknowledged for the first time publicly that his son James is not the preferred choice to succeed him as News Corp CEO, at least in the near-term.

In the clearest indication yet that the phone hacking scandal enveloping News Corp's UK operations has damaged the succession ambitions of James Murdoch, his father endorsed top lieutenant Chase Carey for the job.

"Chase is my partner and if anything happened to me I'm sure he'll get it immediately - if I went under a bus," the elder Murdoch said in response to a question from a Reuters reporter about succession on the company's quarterly earnings call.