Reflecting a decrease in TV income, News Corp.‘s net income last quarter dropped year over year, to $822 million, or $0.27 per share, from $1.075 million, or $0.35 per share, in the same quarter. (The previous year was inflated by a tax gain.) Revenue continued to rise, up 24 percent to $7.8 billion for the quarter compared with $6.7 billion the previous year. The best news about the quarter for News Corp.: the agreement reached with Liberty Media to swap DirecTV shares and other assets for Liberty’s News Corp. shares.
Despite all the emphasis on digital at News Corp., the company continues to fold revenues and expenses in with other line items when it comes to financial reports. In fact, the earnings report released today doesn’t even mention Fox Interactive Media in operating results and only the barest of mentions of online—the Fox Television Stations revenues were offset in part by spending on local websites. We’ll get more color during the earnings call, just getting underway.
Earnings release | Webcast