On CNN’s Oscar red carpet special, Piers Morgan has been asking his guests who they’re most excited to see. Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Daniel Day-Lewis would top the list, but when Morgan asked Oscar-nominee Jennifer Lawrence, she only had one man on her mind:  ”I want to see Al Roker. I used to watch him every day before school.”

“Al Roker?,” Morgan shot back. “Of all the people you could possibly see, Al Roker?” “It means something to me personally,” said Lawrence, “Every morning he’s happy.”

Roker is reporting from Hollywood tonight for tomorrow’s “Today” show.

Following the Lawrence interview, Morgan chatted with Dustin Hoffman, who had some nice words about his CNN show: “God bless you for what you’re saying about gun control,” said Hoffman.

A few minutes after that, Morgan grabbed his “former boss” News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch. After chatting about some of the 20th Century Fox-nominated movies, Morgan couldn’t resist asking: “How do you feel about CNN doing so well against Fox at the moment?”

“I think we’re okay, I think we’ll survive,” Murdoch laughed. “I think you probably will,” said Morgan.

It is well-known that before heading stateside, CNN host Piers Morgan made his name across the pond as the editor of London tabloid News of the World. The man that hired him there was an Australian media mogul named Rupert Murdoch.

Morgan was recently in the news due to a White House petition that called for him to be deported as a result of his personal view on gun control. The White House nixed that idea, but Murdoch apparently thinks there should be a new petition:

Let’s have petition to keep Piers Morgan in U.S.We need him, as does CNN.

— Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch) January 26, 2013

The New York Times‘ Brian Stelter has the definitive tick-tock on how Current TV managed to become so big ($100 million in annual revenue) and how the sale to Al Jazeera was finalized. The big takeaway: Current co-founder and former Vice President Al Gore used his muscle to get deals done. One of the most important deals, and the one that arguably helped Current the most, came from News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch:

In a meeting in New York, Mr. Gore leaned on Mr. Murdoch for an extended contract with a lucrative per-subscriber fee.

Mr. Gore asserted that DirecTV should carry a “diverse set of news sources.”

The resulting contract guaranteed Current roughly 10 cents per subscriber per month and helped Mr. Gore secure the financing he needed to acquire Newsworld. It also laid the groundwork for similar extensions with smaller distributors.

That’s why Current, despite having one of the puniest audiences of any widely distributed cable channel, was able to post annual revenue of about $100 million.

Actress Jane Fonda is a guest on tomorrow’s edition of “Katie,” and among other things she talks to Katie Couric about her character on the HBO series “The Newsroom.” Fonda plays Leona Lansing, the CEO of Atlantis World Media, the parent company of Atlantis Cable News. Fonda, of course, was once married to Ted Turner, the founder of CNN.

WATCH:

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Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, the mother of News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch, has died at age 103. She died peacefully at the Murdoch family home, Cruden Farm, in Melbourne, Australia.

“We have lost the most wonderful mother but we are all grateful to have had her love and wisdom for so many years,” read a family statement. “Throughout her life, our mother demonstrated the very best qualities of true public service. Her energy and personal commitment made our country a more hopeful place and she will be missed by many.”

In a New Yorker story about Rupert Murdoch’s daughter, the younger Elisabeth Murdoch, author Ken Auletta shared an anecdote about the family matriarch.

Rupert Murdoch, who is eighty-one, abhors the gossip about his successor. Like Charles de Gaulle, he cannot imagine death knocking on his door. He maintains a careful diet, works out with a trainer, and reminds people that his mother, Dame Elisabeth, is a hundred and three years old. “When the Queen Mum died, at one hundred and one,” Roger Ailes recalls, “I said to Rupert, ‘She had a good run.’ ” Murdoch replied, “I’d call it an early death.”

News Corp. has formally split itself into two.

The company’s newspaper and publishing businesses will become their own company, retaining the News Corp. name. Dow Jones editor in chief Robert Thomson will become CEO of the new News Corp. January 1. The company is also shutting down The Daily, its iPad-only newspaper.

News Corp.’s TV and film businesses, which include Fox News Channel, Fox Broadcasting and 20th Century Fox, will become part of what is now called “The Fox Group.” The Fox Group will be led by Rupert Murdoch as CEO, and Chase Carey as president and COO.

“At Fox Group, what began with the acquisition of a modest film studio over 25 years ago has grown into one of the world’s most successful media companies of all times, defying conventional wisdom at every turn by pursuing excellence in creativity and innovation,” said Murdoch in a statement. “Fox Group is perfectly positioned to deliver even more inspiring stories that engage audiences through film, television, sports and digital platforms, driving not only financial results but a lasting imprint on the millions of people who enjoy our various services, in every corner of the world.”

After the jump, Murdoch’s note to staff explaining the moves.

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• The Leveson Report, which focuses on the British press in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, has been released. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch and CNN host Piers Morgan are among those mentioned. The Guardian has the highlights (or lowlights, if you prefer).

• Current TV’s Joy Behar will host a benefit event for the victims of Hurricane Sandy Friday, December 14. Current TV founder Al Gore and comedian Andy Borowitz are among those that will appear. The benefit will air on Current.

• CNN’s Arwa Damon is returning to Syria to report on the ongoing battle between rebel fighters and government forces there. It will Damon’s second trip to Syria this year. Her latest report is here.

A number of major media companies, including the owners of ABC News and Fox News Channel, are making sizable donations to charities to benefit the victims of Hurricane Sandy.

News Corp., which owns Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network, donated $1 million to charity, half of it for help in NYC, and half for New Jersey. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch announced the donation on Twitter:

Newscorp giving $1millionto help families in NY and NJ badly hurt by Sandy.Hope other companies will do same.

— Rupert Murdoch(@rupertmurdoch) October 31, 2012

The Walt Disney Company, which owns ESPN, ABC and ABC News, is donating $2 million to relief efforts, half to the Red Cross and half to local organizations. The company will also match employee donations to many organizations.

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In The Guardian, journalist Michael Wolff (who you may recall wrote an authorized biography of Rupert Murdoch back in 2010) tackles the contract renewal of Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. Wolff argues that Ailes is a malevolent auteur, who is well aware of the influence he holds, both in the halls of politics and the world of media.

Let me make a crucial distinction here: Ailes is fundamentally concerned with ratings, but they are achieved, in his approach, precisely by rocking the boat (a concept that I doubt any other working television executive could grasp). The long-term success of Fox is the result of not just annoying the left, but of creating an ever-mounting dramatic tension among conservatives of various hues. Ailes’ real theme is authenticity, and his talent is to be able to undercut everybody else’s claim to it.

Ailes creates conflict. Conflict creates good television.

Gary Ginsberg

Michael Wolff takes to USA Today to write about CNN’s search for a new CEO. He trots out a number of familiar names, but buries who he thinks the next CEO will be at the very end of his item.

Sure, people make fun of CNN, but it makes money, doesn’t it? So all we really have is a PR problem.

In that case, there is Gary Ginsberg, Time Warner’s vaunted PR chief, formerly Rupert Murdoch‘s consigliere, who has long wanted to leave the corporate office and run an operating company. Ginsberg isn’t a television guy. He’s a brilliant and powerful corporate smoother and handler.

That’s how you manage the unmanageable.

Life is just too short to remake cable news.

Wolff also talks about the often rumored names of Jeff Zucker, Mark Whitaker and Phil Griffin. While Ginsburg may seem an odd choice, NBCUniversal recently placed an executive’s executive in charge of NBC News, CNBC and MSNBC, so there is some precedent for it.