James Murdoch, the chief executive of BSkyB, is expected to step down today to take on the job of running News Corporation’s European and Asian operations.

Mr Murdoch will be replaced by Jeremy Darroch, who is the chief financial officer of BSkyB. Sky is 39.1 per cent owned by News Corp, parent company of The Times.

The decision to move Mr Murdoch, who will become chairman of News Corp’s European and Asian businesses, clearly positions the 34-year-old as the most likely successor to his father, Rupert Murdoch, as chairman and chief executive of News Corp, the media group that also owns the MySpace website and the Fox film studio.

James Murdoch’s move is part of a wide-ranging reshuffle of senior News Corp personnel in London. Les Hinton, the executive chairman of News International, the company that directly owns The Times, is expected to move to become chief executive of Dow Jones. News Corp is acquiring Dow Jones for about $5 billion (£2.5 billion) in a deal that is expected to close next week. However, news of Mr Hinton’s impending appointment leaked last night in New York as it became clear that Richard Zannino, the Dow Jones chief executive, was to step aside.

Also following Mr Hinton will be Robert Thomson, the Editor of The Times, who is expected to join Dow Jones as publisher. Mr Zannino took over as chief executive two years ago, becoming the first head of the media group who had not been a journalist.

Rupert Murdoch said yesterday: “I understand Rich’s decision to seek new challenges. During nearly two years as chief executive, he proved himself to be an effective leader who revitalised Dow Jones during a time of great change in the industry. Under his leadership, Dow Jones has reinforced its position as the premier provider of business news content and embarked on many new initiatives important to the company’s future.”

Insiders at BSkyB were at pains last night to emphasise that the appointment of Mr Darroch had followed a rigorous process led by Nicholas Ferguson, the independent nonexecutive director. James Murdoch will remain as nonexecutive chairman of Sky, and Rupert Murdoch will step down from that position.

The last element of the reshuffle is expected to include the appointment of a new Editor of The Times, but last night there was no formal confirmation regarding who that would be.

James Murdoch’s responsibilities will include running News Corp’s London-based newspapers, which, as well as The Times, include The Sun, The Sunday Timesand theNews of the World. Elsewhere in Europe and Asia, News Corp owns Sky Italia, the satellite broadcaster, and Star Television, the pan-Asian TV group. It will be the first time that News Corp has created such a powerful role outside its New York headquarters.

Under James Murdoch’s leadership, Sky moved aggressively into supplying broadband internet services in addition to its core pay-television business. The move rapidly won customers but the venture is not expected to break even until 2010. Acutely conscious of his company’s relationship with News Corp, Mr Murdoch had always emphasised some distance from the business his father built while he was running Sky. When asked whether he would move over to News Corp, he would reply that they were “stuck with me for a long time yet”.

James Murdoch steps down from Sky at a time when the satellite broadcaster is beset by regulatory battles over its decision to buy a 17.9 per cent stake in ITV and complaints about its conduct in the pay television market, which it rejects.

Mr Darroch was a key ally of Mr Murdoch in the decision to buy the stake in ITV and in the company’s strategic development. His succession will come as little surprise.

Mr Darroch was formerly chief financial officer of Dixons, the electrical retailer, before joining Sky under Mr Murdoch as a key appointment designed to emphasise the independence of the company from the Murdoch family.

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