Now that Disney has purchased 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight movie studios from the Murdoch media empire, it has removed the “Fox” name from each. It also terminated a film-production deal with a Murdoch lieutenant.

The New York Times notes that the name change “may prevent consumers from mistakenly thinking the movie studio has anything to do with Rupert Murdoch’s polarizing Fox News media empire.” The Times further explains:

On Friday, employees at the main movie studio arrived to a new email format (@20thcenturystudios) without the Fox. A Disney spokesman confirmed that both labels, now officially known as 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures, would drop Fox from their logos. Disney had no further comment.

[…]

Also on Friday, Disney ended a lavish film-production deal with Peter Chernin, who was once Mr. Murdoch’s second in command. The decade-old agreement was with 20th Century Fox, which released Chernin Entertainment-produced films and paid for all or part of the costs. Films made under the deal included the recent “Planet of the Apes” trilogy and the current Oscar nominee “Ford v Ferrari.

However, according to Variety, no final decisions have been made about changing the names of 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television studios. “Discussions about a possible name change are underway, but no consensus has emerged, according to a source close to the situation,” Variety reported.

(Murdoch image via World Economic Forum [CC BY-SA]