News Corp. Interested in Music ‘Opportunity’

NEW YORK — News Corp., the world’s fourth-biggest media company, is interested in getting into the music business, though it won’t overpay and doesn’t believe a presence in that industry is a necessity, a top executive said.

“We look at it as an opportunity, as opposed to something we have to have,” News Corp. President Peter Chernin said Tuesday at PaineWebber’s annual media conference in New York.

News Corp. will continue to use cash flow to pay down debt, buy back stock and make acquisitions, though Chernin said he prefers to use stock for purchases. News Corp. is interested in pursuing acquisitions of TV stations, though the company won’t “do it at any cost,” he said.