UPDATE 2-News Corp hires DirecTV chief as No. 2 executive

* Carey to join News Corp on July 1

* Carey to serve as No. 2 executive to Murdoch

* DirecTV searches for successor CEO
(Adds details on DirecTV CEO search)

NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) - News Corp (NWSA.O) named
DirecTV (DTV.O) Chief Executive Chase Carey as Rupert Murdoch's
top lieutenant on Wednesday, marking the return of one of the
media mogul's most trusted veterans.

Carey, 55, will become News Corp's vice chairman, president
and chief operating officer on July 1 and supervise the
company's global operations, News Corp said in a statement.

He also will join the company's board.

Carey will take the top slot from departing Chief Operating
Officer Peter Chernin, who earlier this year announced his
resignation. Word of talks between Carey and News Corp surfaced
on Sunday with a report on the Hollywood blog TheWrap.com.

Carey spent 15 years as a News Corp executive and previously
served on the company's board.

His return makes him the most powerful executive at one of
the world's most powerful media companies. It is also a sign
that Murdoch, 78, wants a trusted executive near at hand to run
the company's daily operations. When Chernin announced his
resignation, Murdoch gave no sign of replacing him.

Still unclear is whether Carey would take over the company
upon Murdoch's departure or whether Murdoch's son James would
step up to the chief role from his position as a News Corp
executive in Europe.

News Corp owns a global empire of newspapers including The
Wall Street Journal and The Times of London, satellite TV
networks, and websites including the MySpace social network.

While at News Corp, Carey launched Fox Sports, expanded Fox
Television Stations from its initial seven stations to 35. He
also helped develop Fox cable channels including the Fox News
Channel, FX and the National Geographic Channel.

Carey joined Fox in 1988 and also served as chief executive
officer of Sky Global Networks. Before News Corp, he worked at
Columbia Pictures.

DirecTV said it will appoint Larry Hunter, executive vice
president of legal, human resources and administration, as
interim chief executive while it seeks a successor.

While at DirecTV, the satellite TV network increased its
subscriber count to 18 million from 12 million, and expanded
free cash flow from break-even in 2003 to $1.7 billion last
year, DirecTV said in a statement.

The company did not address recent speculation by several
analysts that Carey's departure could be a step toward DirecTV
selling itself to another company. A possible buyer named by
some observers is telecommunications giant AT&T Inc (T.N).

On the Nasdaq, shares of News Corp fell 2.54 percent to
close at $10.34, and DirecTV fell 1.73 to $22.69.
(Reporting by Robert MacMillan; Editing by Richard Chang and
Matthew Lewis)