The Morning Fix: Has Sony found Stringer successor? NPR reeling! ‘Mars’ will need more than moms.

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After the coffee. Before finding out if I can score some more Starbucks Christmas.

The Skinny: Your Morning Fix is Charlie Sheen-free. Thank me later. Sony Corp. may finally have someone to succeed CEO Howard Stringer. NPR is rocked yet again.

Stringer successor? The move by Sony Corp. to promote Kazuo Hirai to oversee a newly created unit combining the conglomerate’s video game and consumer electronics units makes him the front-runner to succeed current Sony chief Howard Stringer. ‘He is the leading candidate,’ Stringer told the Wall Street Journal. Stringer, 69, is likely to stay in his post for at least the next two years.

Genachowski on the way out? The Hill says Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski may exit the regulatory agency to succeed Gary Locke as secretary of Commerce. During his run at the FCC, Genachowski has made waves for his efforts to regulate the Internet as well as his squabbles with broadcasters over digital spectrum. Genachowski, a Democrat, has ruffled some Republican feathers on Capitol Hill during his run, but that is usually par for the course for any FCC chairman when it comes to relations with the opposing party. Not everyone believes he’s headed to Commerce, though, and think Genachowski, who is close to President Obama, will stay put for now and then land a bigger role working for the president down the road.

Schiller exit rocks NPR. The decision by the board of National Public Radio to bounce CEO Vivian Schiller after an underling was caught on tape bashing the ‘tea party’ supporters is the latest blow to the nonprofit media outlet. NPR already often gets accused of political bias in its coverage and this controversy will again give opponents ammunition to use against NPR, which gets some funding from the government. Analysis from the New York Times, Washington Post and Los Angeles Times.

He’s going! He’s staying! Do I care? WME agent John Fogelman, whose clients include J.J. Abrams and Michael Bay, may be on the move. Vulture reports that Fogelman is opening his own firm with an aim of making Abrams ‘the Oprah of the geek set.’ The Wrap then reaches out to Fogelman, who says he’s not going anywhere yet his own firm won’t comment. Whatever happens, somewhere down the line someone will be screaming toldja!

MLB, NBA, make nice with Apple. The National Basketball Assn. and Major League Baseball have signed deals to offer packages of games on Apple TV. The move, notes the Financial Times, is something of a shift for the leagues as they usually like to keep their digital rights to themselves.

Navel gazing. There’s nothing media reporters like to do more than write about other media reporters and how media is covered. The Daily Beast chats up New York Times Editor Bill Keller and one of the topics is his criticisms of Fox News. Keller says his negative views on Fox News in no way shape the paper’s coverage of the network. Then Mediaite weighs in with its own piece analyzing the Daily Beast story and questioning whether the New York Times is the pot calling the kettle black. Then I link to both and the media squabble goes full circle.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: ‘Mars Needs Moms’ may be in for a rough landing at the box office this weekend. Julie Taymor is out as director of ‘Spider-Man.’

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. I’m insecure. Twitter.com/JBFlint