James Murdoch is stepping down as chairman at British Sky Broadcasting, the latest in a string of titles he's shed since the News of the World hacking scandal started plaguing News Corporation last summer. 

He's pretty much severed his British business ties at this point, having quit the scandal-plagued U.K. newspaper group News International and left the boards of auctioneer Sotheby's and pharmaceutical maker GlaxoSmithKline earlier this year. The son of News Corporation owner Rupert Murdoch, James Murdoch had been "one of his father's chief lieutenants," as the Associated Press put it. But as the scope of the scandal grew under his watch he's been in something of a slow-motion decline, giving up title after title as a fall guy for the embattled media company. Murdoch's now going to focus on News Corp.'s pay-TV businesses from New York, where we imagine he'll be glad of a break from having to apologize to hostile British regulators.

Update (9 a.m. EDT): Nicholas Ferguson, currently deputy chairman at BSkyB, is expected to take over as chairman, Sky News reports.

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Adam Martin