Rupert Murdoch’s daughter to address Edinburgh Television Festival

Elisabeth Murdoch is set to follow family tradition and deliver the MacTaggart Lecture at this year’s Edinburgh Television Festival, according to reports.

Ms Murdoch, who runs production company Shine TV which is responsible for shows including MasterChef and Merlin, will be the third member of her family to give the keynote speech at the industry get-together in August.

Her father, Rupert, gave the lecture in 1989 and her brother, James, used his lecture 20 years later to lambast the BBC and accuse the corporation of “a power grab”.

Ms Murdoch was reported to have pulled out of a planned appearance at last year’s festival amid fears it would have been overshadowed by the phone hacking scandal.

Previous speakers asked to give the prestigious lecture include Dennis Potter, Jeremy Paxman and BBC boss Mark Thompson.

Last year’s lecture was given by Google boss Dr Eric Schmidt who criticised a false divide in the UK between boffins and luvvies and called for a return to a “Victorian” approach bringing “art and science back together”.