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.
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