He will replace Michael Lynton, who announced in January that he would step down in the spring, Sony said in a statement.

Vinciquerra, a senior adviser at TPG Capital, will oversee Sony's film and television studio and its worldwide networks division. He had previously served as chairman and CEO of Fox Networks Group when it was the largest operating unit of News Corp. Fox is now a unit of 21st Century Fox.

Sony's TV studio has found success with hits such as "Breaking Bad" and "The Blacklist." The movie studio struggled with a devastating cyber attack in 2014 and a lack of big hits. The Japanese company took a roughly $1 billion (£776.6 million) writedown on its movie business in January.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; Editing by Richard Chang)