Tweet

Murdoch: "Worst Is Over"

Proclamation Comes During Earnings Call As News Corp. Operating Income Is Almost Halved

Claire Atkinson (Broadcasting & Cable) -- Multichannel News, 5/6/2009 6:43:28 PM

News Corp's latest set of numbers reflected the ever widening gulf between the profitability of the media conglomerate's broadcast assets and its cable cousins.

Operating income at News Corps.' global stable of cable networks grew 30% to $429 million during the quarter ended March 31. At the Television unit, which includes the broadcast network and the local stations, News managed operating income of just $4 million, down from $415 million in the same period a year ago.

Fox Television Stations fiscal third-quarter operating income decreased 72% on the same period last year. Last year, Fox had both the Super Bowl and eight additional local stations, which were sold in July 2008 which affected the comparable numbers.

Fox Interactive Media, which houses ventures such as MySpace, saw lower advertising revenue, the company said in its earnings statement. 

News CEO Rupert Murdoch said in a statement, "Despite this tough environment, we have proven resilient in several key areas this quarter. Our Cable Network Programming segment showed remarkable growth, led by the Fox News Channel which nearly doubled its operating income over the year ago quarter."

On the earnings call he added, "it's clear the worst is over," speaking of the income drop.

Net income was flat at $2.7 billion, thanks to a $1.2 billion gain on the sale of a stake in set-top box firm NDS Group. Adjusted operating income at News Corp. dropped to $755 million from $1.4 billion. Revenue was $7.3 billion, down from $8.7 billion in the prior period.

Tweet

Talkback

We would love your feedback!

Post a comment

» View All Talkback Threads

Related Content

• Topics
• Author

No related content found.

Also by this author

• Time Warner Posts Most Profitable Quarter Ever

• Movies Top Cable As Big Mover For News Corp. Earnings

• Discovery's Q1 Earnings Show Big Boost In Ad Revenue

• Andrea Wong Swaps Lifetime For Liberty

• Viacom's Cable Channels Help Boost Q1 Earnings

More >>>

• Resource Center
• Browse Categories
• Browse Companies

Featured Company

• Bigband Networks

  

  BigBand Networks, Inc. NASDAQ: BBND provides broadband service providers with innovative network solutions designed to make it easier to move, manage and monetize video. These solutions are based on BigBand's video-networking platforms that are built to enable efficient and relia..more

---

Most Recent Resources

• The New Normal for Promoting Tune-in
• Infrastructure Design for High Volume Video Workflows
• Improving the Internet TV and Mobile Video Experience – an Adap..
• Increasing Efficiency in Digital Distribution of Media
• The Local Origination/Leased Access Metamorphosis