It was always Rupert. The focus was on the father who has been so active over the past 60 years to create a media empire the world had never seen before.

Through this time of triumph and turmoil the father kept his children close by. As heir apparents they had a vital role to play in the future of News Corp.

But things changed.

Thanks to the News of the World scandal, James dropped away and Elizabeth just isn’t around much anymore.

Lachlan is the one, he is standing upfront and running things. He is the public face And the history of this family in media means that what he does will be watched closely.

And company results will be watched closely.

When will there be another book by Michael Wolff, when will the next crises at Fox raise its head.

And why does it seem that it is this media company and this media empire that gets most of the attention when things go wrong, just as when things go right?

Because the founder put his neck on the line so many times to creative a business so strong and powerful and significant that the rest of the world watched him do it. He made enemies, he made friends.

Sure, there are other large and famous family media businesses. They mainly are quieter, less controversial and not so much watched for their every move.

And because this family of media people – the Murdochs – somehow draw the attention, how will Lachlan handle it? He is 46 and by the time he reaches his father’s age, we may well be looking at a whole new ball game.