James Murdoch bypasses father in media power ranking

London, July 14 (PTI) Media tycoon James Murdoch has leapfrogged his father, Rupert, for the first time in a list of the most powerful figures in the British media, in which Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have topped theranking.

The MediaGuardian 100 power list, which measures the economic, cultural and political influence was topped by Brin and Page in recognition "of the all-pervasive impact of Googleon the media".

James, chairman of satellite broadcaster BSkyB in Britain and News Corp. Europe and Asia's chairman and chief executive, ranked second in the list, while his father wasfifth in the ranking.

The third member of the family, Rupert's daughter Elisabeth, chief executive of independent production giantShine, was ranked 27th, The Guardian newspaper said Monday.

The power ranking is based on influence on the UK's media scene, where James now oversees the News Internationalnewspaper empire.

James, whom he is expected to succeed as head of the sprawling News Corp empire, overtook his father "partly because Rupert has been more focused on the US since buying the Wall Street Journal publisher, Dow Jones" in December, theBritish daily said.

Last year, Brin and Page were replaced in the list by Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, but they returned to the top spot this year in recognition of "their higher-profile role at the Silicon Valley search giant". Apple's Steve Jobsand Microsoft's Steve Ballmer also make the top 10.

The 2007 list was a shakeup of the established order, with several high-profile new media players storming the top10 and many established names dropping out, the daily said.

It said London-based Daily Mail's Paul Dacre is the best-placed newspaper editor, while BBC Fiction chief JaneTranter is a new entry at 10.