The cable and broadcast elements of News Corporation, which prominently include Fox News Channel, the Fox Television Network and the company’s platoon of broadcast television stations, all benefitted from the 2012 election in the US. However, continued problems regarding the hacking scandal in the UK, and in other areas, proved a drag on the bottom line.
Overall, the company increased revenue 2% to $8.14B.
Operating income decreased by half a percent to $1.378B, with the following all-over-the-board breakdowns:
Cable Network Programming: Up 18.7% to $953M
Filmed Entertainment: Up 13.3% to $400M
Television: Up 14.7% to $156M
Direct Broadcast Satellite Television: Down 80.7% to $23M
Publishing: Down 48.2% to $57M
Other: This category included losses of $211M, compared to $99M the prior year, a 53.1% increase.
Chairman/CEO Rupert Murdoch stated, “Our operational discipline and focus on innovation continued to drive the company’s momentum in our fiscal first quarter, led by double-digit growth in our channels business and the global success of our film and television content. Even against considerable currency headwinds due to a stronger dollar, we were able to increase News Corp’s revenue and adjusted segment operating profit over the prior year quarter while continuing to make key investments to position us for future growth.”
Murdoch continued, “We are committed to leading the change that the marketplace and our customers demand as the Company builds on its success at leveraging multi-platform opportunities for our content. We believe that our ability to do so will be enhanced by the flexibility and management focus that will result from the proposed separation of our entertainment and publishing businesses. We have made considerable progress in this process and look forward to providing more details by the end of the calendar year.”
The company reiterated its intention to split its entertainment and publishing assets into two separately-traded companies.
