Media Money
- The Future of The Media Landscape
- Predictions 2010: Media
- Why Careful Shoppers Are Great for the Box Office
- Black Friday at Best Buy
- Facebook's Biggest-Ever Holiday Shopping Season
- Facebook's New Dual Class Structure - Slow Steps to an IPO
- Can Murdoch Help Bing Challenge Google and Shift the Content Equation?
- Twilight, Inc., A Worldwide Craze
- Oprah to Leave Syndication in 2011
- Sony's E-Reader Shortage and the Digital Book Battle
RSS FEED
- BofA On Proposed Changes In The Housing Bailout Program
- The Future of The Media Landscape
- November Auto Sales Muddle Along
- Busch: What Obama Won't Say Tonight
- Stick with Equities—Avoid Emerging Markets: Laszlo Birinyi
- Pfizer Chomps On A Carrot
- Predictions 2010: Technology
- Predictions 2010: Consumers
- Predictions 2010: The Big Picture
- Who Were the Biggest Winners And Losers This Year?
- GE, Comcast Complete Deal Over NBC Universal: Source
- US May Raise Rates Before Jobs Recover: Fed's Plosser
- Stocks Likely Don't Need Santa to Keep Rally Going
- Larry Kudlow's Open Letter to Tiger Woods
- AIG Slashes US Debt Under Deal With New York Fed
- Seamstress Fined $5.7 Million for Insider Trading
- Super Fantasy Christmas Gifts of 2009
- Commercial Property Fears Are Overblown: Zell, LeFrak
Text Size 
CNBC Correspondent
Strong performance at News Corp's (NWS) cable channels and movie studio helped compensate for advertising declines, helping the media giant outperform Wall Street's expectations.
 |
CEO Rupert Murdoch told reporters during the earnings call that he sees "marked improvement from last year" and that the company "appears to be emerging from the bottom of the cycle."
The media giant reported an 11 percent increase in net income to 22 cents per share, beating analyst expectations by four cents per share. Revenues of $7.2 billion were in line with expectations.
Operating profit at News Corp's cable networks grew 41 percent, benefiting from the strong dual revenue stream of carriage fees and advertising.
Murdoch says that prices for "scatter" (or last minute) ads are up, boosted by strong ratings for its cable channels. News Corp has over 200 cable channels in more than 60 countries, and more than 70 percent of cable revenues are from affiliate fees.
Now that the company is pursuing cash payments for all of its channels, the challenge is whether the company can expand its dual revenue stream to the broadcast model.
News Corp's movie division was bolstered by its latest "Ice Age" sequel, which posted $391 million in operating income, up from $251 million from the same quarter a year ago. The media company is also hoping its 3-D "Avatar" movie directed by James Cameron opening in December, together with soon-to-be-released "Wolverine" DVDs, will boost its bottom line further in the fourth quarter.
Newspapers, however, continue to drag on the company's balance sheet - operating income for the division dropped to $25 million from $134 million in the year-ago period.
Murdoch answered a pointed question about the Wall Street Journal's finances, a unit of Dow Jones which News Corp acquired in 2007, saying the newspaper was profitable.
And with regards to Comcast's potential deal with NBC Universal, Murdoch maintained that Comcast is a partner and shot down rumors that News Corp is competing with Comcast for the deal.
"We're not interested in NBC as such," said Murdoch. "We kick the tires but we're not in talks with anybody at the moment."
But when asked whether News Corp is in the running to buy the Travel Channel from Cox Communications, Murdoch declined comment.
Questions? Comments?
Data is a real-time snapshot *Data is delayed at least 15 minutes