If shareholder votes of past years are any guide, the protest vote against some members of News Corp.'s board at Friday's annual meeting could be sizable—but it is unlikely to precipitate any changes.  Meanwhile, some analysts and investors say they are more focused on shareholder-friendly actions being taken, like a share buyback that is under way.  The meeting, to be held in Los Angeles, comes after a phone-hacking scandal at the company's now-defunct U.K. newspaper News of the World. Saying the scandal "laid bare a striking lack of stewardship and failure of independence" by the board, shareholder advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services recommended stockholders withhold their votes from most News Corp. directors standing for re-election, including Rupert Murdoch and his sons James and Lachlan. Another shareholder advisory firm, Glass Lewis & Co., recommended a vote against some directors, including the two younger Murdochs.  News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch, shown earlier this month, and his family hold 40% of the company's voting stock.  Control of the board isn't in question. The board can count on nearly half the voting shares, given that the family of the elder Mr. Murdoch, News Corp.'s chairman and chief executive, owns about 40% of voting stock. In addition, Saudi investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who owns an additional 7%, expressed support for Mr. Murdoch as recently as late July. A spokesman for the prince didn't respond to requests for comment.  News Corp., which owns The Wall Street Journal, declined to comment ahead of the meeting.  Large numbers of shareholders have voted against the company on certain issues in past years. In 2010, for instance, a shareholder resolution on executive pay opposed by the company but backed by ISS drew the support of holders representing 27% of voting stock. Excluding the shares held by the Murdoch family and Prince Alwaleed, that amounted to 50% support.  In 2009, many shareholders took to heart ISS's recommendation that they withhold their vote for directors on the board's compensation committee, in protest over executive pay: As much as 22% of voting shares were withheld from those directors. That represented about 42% of voting shares held by the public.  After a similar recommendation in 2008, up to 15% of voting shares were withheld from the committee members—or about 27% of shares not owned by the Murdochs or the prince.  This year, Hermes Equity Ownership Services, a U.K. shareholder advisory service that votes on behalf of shareholders owning just under 0.5% of News Corp. shares, has said it will withhold votes from several directors. Others taking a similar stand include the California Public Employees' Retirement System, which owned 0.18% of the voting shares as of June 30, and the California State Teachers' Retirement System, which held 0.004% of voting shares as of Sept. 30.  On the other hand, Don Yacktman, whose Yacktman Asset Management Co. owned 0.01% of the voting stock as of June 30, said he backs Mr. Murdoch.  "Most investors don't ever assume there is going to be change away from the family control," said Nomura Securities analyst Michael Nathanson. He added that there is hope that with chief operating officer Chase Carey taking an increased role, there will be more of a commitment to improving returns on capital.  Indeed, one investor at a hedge fund said he was encouraged by Mr. Murdoch's statement on an earnings call in August that Mr. Carey would succeed him "if I went under a bus."  "Anything that results in Chase having more power is a good thing," the investor said.  News Corp. shares are up about 14% in the past three months, while most other media stocks are down. The investor said this rally was partly due to Mr. Carey's statement on the August call that News Corp. would "pursue additional" stock buybacks once it completes the $5 billion program now under way. On Tuesday, the shares closed at $17.03, up 15 cents. The stock's 52-week high was $18.35. This summer the shares hit a 52-week low of $13.38.  Write to Martin Peers at martin.peers@wsj.com
Shareholder protest votes against some News Corp. directors are likely Friday but with the Murdoch family tightly in control, some investors are focusing on other issues.