Rupert Murdoch is downplaying speculation that incoming News Corp. vice-chairman Chase Carey is now Murdoch’s heir apparent.

“I don’t think we’re making commitments on that at all,” Murdoch told Fox Business Network anchor Neil Cavuto today during an interview. “No, no, Chase is coming in to be my partner and right hand. He was with us for 17 years before, I think. It’s like coming home.”

Murdoch also said that while Carey will be based in New York, “He’ll be going to Los Angeles a lot.”

On other media matters, Murdoch:

–Said this week’s final broadcast switchover from analog to digital will ultimately be beneficial to News Corp. “I think it will help us get more distribution for things like Fox broadcasting, because there will be much more space on all the cable systems,” he said. “So, it should be good for us.”

–Predicted newspapers are 10-20 years away from abandoning print altogether. “We think of newspapers in the old-fashioned way, printed on crushed wood, so to speak, with ink. It’s going to be digital,” he said. “Within ten years, I believe nearly all newspapers will be delivered to you digitally, either on your PC or a new — on a development of the Kindle, shall we say, something that’s quite mobile, you can take around with you.”

When Cavuto suggested that newspapers such as The New York Times would always exist in a print form, Murdoch replied that might not be the case.

“I can see the day — it may be 20 years away — where you don’t, where you don’t actually have paper and ink and printing presses,” he said. “I think it will take a long time. I think it’s a generational thing that’s happening.”

–Josef Adalian