Rupert Murdoch has just popped the cork on a deal to buy a rare trophy property in Los Angeles: the 16-acre Moraga Vineyards estate, located in the hills above Bel Air.

The billionaire media mogul announced his purchase on Twitter on Friday afternoon: "About to celebrate buying beautiful small vineyard right in LA. Great wine, Moraga, owned by great Angelino, Tom Jones, Time cover, 1961!"

Murdoch did not reveal the purchase price.

The listing price for the Santa Monica Mountains property, which can be glimpsed from the 405 Freeway, was just a tasteful sip below $30 million, according to The...

The force is returning to Britain.

Disney-owned Lucasfilm announced Friday that production of "Star Wars: Episode VII" will take place in the United Kingdom, the latest example of a high-profile Hollywood movie filming outside California. Another big Disney movie, Marvel Studios' current release "Iron Man 3," filmed in North Carolina.

Britain provides rebates of up to 25%, making it an attractive destination for such big productions as the "Harry Potter" movies, "Clash of the Titans" and "Captain America: the First Avenger."

The "Star Wars" franchise has longstanding ties to Britain. All of...

NBC has pulled the plug on "Rock Center," the prime-time news magazine hosted by "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams, after just two seasons, the network said late Friday.

The cancellation of "Rock Center" is a blow to Williams and NBC's news unit, which spent a lot of money on the show. NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke was also a champion of "Rock Center."

Besides Williams, "Rock Center" was filled with several big-name producers and correspondents including former "Nightline" anchor Ted Koppel and Harry Smith, a CBS News veteran. Even Chelsea Clinton had a stint as a reporter.

PHOTO...

Paramount Pictures will be getting a payday for "Iron Man 3" -- a film released by its crosstown rival Disney.

The Walt Disney Co.'s Robert Downey Jr. action sequel has already sold $794 million of tickets worldwide -- a massive success for the Burbank company.

But Paramount, which had no involvement in the making of the Marvel Studios-produced superhero movie, could wind up receiving more than $100 million from the box office pie. 

PHOTOS: 'Iron Man 3' premiere

The financial deal stems from an October 2010 agreement between Disney and Paramount, which had previously distributed Marvel movies,...

NBC News is expected to name Deborah Turness, a prominent British TV journalist, to be its next president.

Currently editor of Britain's ITV News, Turness will take the position that was previously held by Steve Capus, who resigned from NBC News in March. The Los Angeles Times last month was first to report that Turness was a leading candidate for the post.

NBC News is declining comment on Turness and insiders there say no official announcement is expected Friday or Monday, which is when the network will unveil its new prime-time schedule to advertisers. However, people with knowledge of the...

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past,” F. Scott Fitzgerald famously wrote in “The Great Gatsby,” a melancholy observation on the struggle to transform one’s dreams into future glory.

Against the box-office current facing Baz Luhrmann’s “Great Gatsby” adaptation in its opening weekend in theaters, the bedazzled 3-D drama got off to an auspicious start, hauling in a robust $3.25 million Thursday night in its 10 p.m. debut at approximately 2,500 locations.

Competing against newly minted international...

CNN News President Jeff Zucker is putting a priority on the cable network’s new morning show, “New Day,” which launches June 17.

 “It’s really important that we have a very strong and good morning show,” Zucker said at a New York press conference Friday with the anchors and producers of “New Day.” Chris Cuomo and Kate Bolduan will host the three-hour (6-9 a.m. ET) show. Michaela Pereira, currently of KTLA-TV Los Angeles, will be the news anchor.

Zucker, who cut his teeth as producer of NBC’s “Today,” said the CNN show will steer...

DirecTV is going to have to decide soon whether to punt or keep the football.

While that may seem like it is a long way off, typically the NFL likes to renegotiate its TV agreements a few years in advance of their expiration date. That was the case with ESPN, Fox, CBS and NBC, all of whom signed lengthy deals long before their current pacts expired. The NFL has managed to...

After the coffee. Before eating something other than Sal & Carmine's pizza.

The Skinny: My diet has taken a turn for the worse since getting to New York. I'll need an extra long run in Central Park this weekend burn off the grease. Friday's headlines include a look at the weekend box office and ESPN's talks with a mobile phone company about covering data cap costs for its viewers. Also, if you are interested in receiving an email alert when the Morning Fix is live, please send me a note.

Daily Dose: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is a big fan of ESPN but he said Thursday doesn't think every cable...

News Corp. has unveiled its corporate logo for its new incarnation.

The company, following the spinoff of its publishing assets, plans to take the name 21st Century Fox. The new logo is a stripped-down version of the one that has served the legendary Los Angeles movie studio for decades.

The moody blue sky and hulking golden pedestal are gone, but the sweeping klieg lights remain.

"Today I am proud to unveil our new logo, which serves as a powerful symbol of the inspiration and high bar set by our company," News Corp. Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch said Thursday in an email to employees.

"Like...

It may seem strange that anybody would pass on financing a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio. But when Baz Luhrmann was trying to make “The Great Gatsby,” with the “Titanic” star cast in the lead role, every studio in town said no — except one.

Opening this weekend, and expected to gross as much as $45 million in its debut, “The Great Gatsby” originally was going to be co-financed by Sony Pictures (with Village Roadshow splitting the tab). But soon after James L. Brooks’ $120-million “How Do You Know” flopped for Sony in late 2010,...