Fox International chooses Depot

Fox International Channels has appointed London-based branding consultancy the Depot to handle the estimated £3m advertising campaign for its new channel FX UK. The entertainment channel will be launched in January next year.

Walker Media has been appointed to handle media buying and planning for the channel, which will target men aged between 25 and 44 years old.

The move follows the recent appointment of Cecilia Parker, former marketing manager for IPC media titles Later and Loaded, as the channel’s head of marketing (MW October 23).

Media insiders say FX UK, which is owned by News Corporation, will be pitched against Sky One, in which News Corp has a 35 per cent stake. FX UK is expected to show programmes such as Cops and The X-Files, both of which are also shown on Sky One.

In a controversial move last week, Rupert Murdoch appointed his son James Murdoch as BSkyB chief executive. Investors insist that the selection process for the chief executive job was a sham and it has been reported that they are voting against the re-election to the board of Lord St John of Fawsley, who led the search for a new chief executive and whom shareholders feel is not sufficiently independent.

Star TV, the Asian pay-TV subsidiary, has appointed its vice-president of business development Michelle Guthrie to replace James Murdoch.