News Corporation Reports Double Digit Operating Income Growth On The Strength Of Film And Cable Segments.Business Editors NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 7, 2001 QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS Motion picture hits and strong video and DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. sales fuel operating income Operating Income The profit realized from a business' own operations. Notes: This would not include income from things such as investments in other firms. Also referred to as operating profit or recurring profit. growth of $97 million in Filmed Entertainment. FOX Broadcasting Company Noun 1. broadcasting company - a company that manages tv or radio stations company - an institution created to conduct business; "he only invests in large well-established companies"; "he started the company in his garage" experiences dramatic ratings turnaround, with viewership among adults 18-49 up more than five percent year over year. Losses from Major League Baseball "MLB" and "Major Leagues" redirect here. For other uses, see MLB (disambiguation) and Major Leagues (disambiguation). Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. post-season, however, resulted in overall operating profit Operating profit (or loss) Revenue from a firm's regular activities less costs and expenses and before income deductions. operating profit See operating income. below year-ago level. Fox News Channel achieves its first quarter of profitability driving Cable Network Programming operating income up 83 percent over prior year; consistently topping CNN CNN or Cable News Network Subsidiary company of Turner Broadcasting Systems. It was created by Ted Turner in 1980 to present 24-hour live news broadcasts, using satellites to transmit reports from news bureaus around the world. in primetime ratings. Advertising increases drive operating income growth at UK Newspapers; overall newspaper segment below a year ago, reflecting adverse exchange rate movements and declines in the Australian ad market. BSkyB's DTH (Direct-To-Home) Typically refers to satellite TV broadcasting directly to a dish antenna on the roof of a house. See DBS. subscribers exceed five million -- contributing to a 33 percent increase in BSkyB's DTH revenue. STAR losses decline over 60 percent. In India, STAR Plus is currently broadcasting every one of the top ten shows. The News Corporation Limited (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : NWS NWS National Weather Service NWS Naval Weapons Station NWS New World Symphony NWS Nuclear Weapon State NWS Not Work Safe NWS National Watercolor Society NWS North Warning System NWS Nose Wheel Steering NWS National Waste Strategy (UK) , NWS.A) today reported consolidated revenues of $3.85 billion and operating income of $562 million for the second fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2000, versus revenues of $3.86 billion and operating income of $510 million a year ago. Overall operating income growth of ten percent reflects strong performances by the Company's Filmed Entertainment and Cable Network Programming segments. These increases, however, were partially offset by losses associated with the Company's broadcast of the Major League Baseball playoffs and World Series.
Consolidated Operating Income
3 Months Ended 6 Months Ended
December 31, December 31,
2000 1999 2000 1999
US $ Millions US $ Millions
Filmed Entertainment $128 $31 $229 $77
Television 175 221 255 370
Cable Network Programming 44 24 83 56
Magazines and Inserts 60 62 105 118
Newspapers 135 149 233 248
Book Publishing 40 38 90 70
Other (20) (15) (43) (34)
Consolidated Operating Income $562 $510 $952 $905
CHAIRMAN'S COMMENTS Commenting on the results, Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch said: "We are very pleased with our results for the quarter, achieved as they were in a challenging economic climate, and encouraged by the turnaround we enjoyed at several of our key businesses. Our film division had several notable successes, including the box office performance of Cast Away and record-breaking video and DVD sales during December. Our television studio continued its extraordinary run, producing three of the five top new series on television, while six of our established series improved their ratings year over year. Their success should enable us to continue to feed our already valuable syndication pipeline. Largely on the strength of the television studio's quality series, the FOX network experienced a dramatic turnaround and is consistently competitive in the key 18-49 demographic. And we're pleased with the increased profitability of the cable operations; Fox News Channel for the first time reached profitability and Fox Sports and FX continued their growth. "In Asia, STAR TV is starting to fulfill its promise, with ratings and pay-TV subscriptions up throughout Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, region of Asia (1990 est. pop. 442,500,000), c.1,740,000 sq mi (4,506,600 sq km), bounded roughly by the Indian subcontinent on the west, China on the north, and the Pacific Ocean on the east. and India. As expected, BSkyB signed its five millionth DTH subscriber, continuing its aggressive conversion to digital that has added extraordinary value to this key asset. BSkyB is now the world leader in interactive broadcasting. "With economic growth slowing in several of our key markets, all of our divisions are working more diligently than ever to keep costs down while maximizing revenues and profits. In market conditions such as these, the Company's vertically integrated tructure ideally positions us to weather this short term uncertainty and will allow us to capture a larger share of the profits upon the resumption of stronger market conditions." Associated Entities reported a loss of $26 million in the second quarter compared to a loss of $17 million a year ago. This increase in losses is primarily due to higher costs at our Latin America Latin America, the Spanish-speaking, Portuguese-speaking, and French-speaking countries (except Canada) of North America, South America, Central America, and the West Indies. platforms as a result of growth in the subscriber base. After-tax profit before abnormal items rose to $270 million ($0.26 per ADR ADR - Astra Digital Radio ) for the quarter versus the year-ago result of $252 million ($0.25 per ADR) primarily due to increased consolidated operating income partially offset by lower contributions from Associated Entities. The weighted average number of ADRs used to calculate earnings per ADR for the quarter was approximately 1,008 million as compared to 996 million of a year ago. The second quarter net abnormal loss of $293 million reflects the Company's restructuring of its WebMD relationship, as well as write-downs of the Company's Zee Telefilms and new media investments. In the prior year the Company reported gains related to the sale of EchoStar shares as well as the IPOs of both NDS See eDirectory. NDS - Netware Directory Services and Fox Kids Europe. An interim 50 percent franked dividend of A$0.06 per Ordinary ADR and A$0.15 per Limited Voting Limited voting is a voting system in which electors have fewer votes than there are positions available. The positions are awarded to the candidates who receive the most votes absolutely. ADR has been declared payable on May 7, 2001. Completed share transfers received by the Company until 5:00 PM on March 30, 2001 will be registered before entitlements to the dividend are determined. FILMED ENTERTAINMENT The Filmed Entertainment segment reported second quarter operating income of $128 million, compared to $31 million in the same period a year ago. The strong second quarter results were fueled primarily by the exceptional domestic video performance of X-Men, released on November 21, and by the film's continuing international theatrical performance. In addition, the segment benefited from the ongoing strength of worldwide library sales. The positive results were partially offset by the pre-release costs for Men of Honor, Quills, Dude, Where's My Car?, and Cast Away, which has grossed over $200 million in domestic box office since its Christmas release. At Twentieth Century Fox Television (TCFTV), several new series delivered strong ratings. Boston Public and Dark Angel, which air on FOX, are two of the top new dramas this season, winning all key demographics in their time slots and Yes, Dear, on CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. , is the number one new series for that network this season. In addition, six returning shows - including The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle Malcolm in the Middle is a seven-time Emmy-winning,[1] one-time Grammy-winning[1] and seven-time Golden Globe-nominated[1] American sitcom created by Linwood Boomer for the Fox Network. and Titus - increased audience share over last year. TELEVISION Total television segment operating income of $175 million declined $46 million versus the same period a year ago, primarily as a result of Major League Baseball post-season losses at the FOX Broadcasting Company (FBC See fully buzzword compliant. ) and a slight decline in television station contributions. At FBC season-to-date ratings among adults 18-49 are five percent higher than a year ago. On a night-by-night basis, FBC has increased 18-49 ratings on five of seven nights, with the largest gains on Tuesday, where Dark Angel, That `70s Show and Titus have boosted nightly ratings by 33 percent. FOX has also improved on previously soft nights - especially Wednesday, when Grounded For Life and Temptation Island have helped FOX win the night among 18-49 year-olds every week since their January premieres. The network's significant ratings improvements were more than offset by previously announced losses associated with Major League Baseball post-season games as well as a weak advertising environment. These losses were a result of post Olympic sports The Olympic sports comprise all the sports contested in the Summer and Winter Olympic Games. The current Olympic program consists of 35 sports with 53 disciplines and more than 400 events — the Summer Olympics include 28 sports with 38 disciplines, and the Winter Olympics fatigue as well as the playoffs coinciding with season premieres on other networks due to the delayed Fall season. Operating income at the Fox Television Stations The Fox Television Stations (FTS) are a group of television stations located throughout the United States which are owned-and-operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company. FTS also produces the Fox program COPS. (FTS FTS facteur thymique sérique. ) declined three percent compared to a year ago. A decline in spending by internet related businesses was the primary factor for lower advertising revenue. These decreases were partially offset by cost reductions including lower promotional spending. At STAR TV, consolidated operating losses improved over 60 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago, reflecting a 66 percent increase in revenues. The gains were driven by strong advertising at STAR Plus India, which benefited from the record popularity of Kuan Banega Crorepati (KBC KBC Kenya Broadcasting Corporation KBC Kaun Banega Crorepati (Indian TV show) KBC Koahnic Broadcast Corporation (Anchorage, Alaska) KBC Keyboard Connector KBC Kill Before Capture ), the Hindi version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Ratings were higher across almost all of STAR Plus' programming line-up which currently includes all of the top ten programs aired in India each week. In addition, increased subscriber numbers and fees in India and Southeast Asia also helped improve STAR TV's operating income. These gains were partially offset by higher spending for movies and new local language programming. CABLE NETWORK PROGRAMMING Cable Network Programming, comprising the Fox News Channel, Fox Sports Networks (including the Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) and the FX Channel (FX)), the Los Angeles Dodgers "Dodgers" and "Brooklyn Dodgers" redirect here. For the American football team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (football). For the Eastern Basketball Association team, see Brooklyn Dodgers (basketball). and other cable-related businesses, reported second quarter operating income of $44 million, a $20 million increase over prior year's results. The segment's improvement primarily reflects Fox News Channel's move to operational break-even, during the quarter, for the first time since its launch four years ago. The operating income gains were fueled by higher ratings, which drove advertising sales, as well as the addition of 12 million subscribers over the past year. FNC's primetime ratings, boosted largely by the presidential election, grew 211 percent compared to the same quarter a year ago. Fox News beat CNN by ten percent in primetime ratings during the quarter in the 56 million homes where the two news networks competed directly. Fox Sports Networks' operating income declined slightly during the quarter, primarily as a result of the continued rollout of regional sports news. Higher RSN RSN - Real Soon Now affiliate rates, negotiated with MSOs in the past year, partially offset the sports news costs at the RSNs. FX increased operating income through higher advertising and affiliate revenues, reflecting the addition of 11 million subscribers over the past year. These revenue increases were partially offset by increased programming and marketing costs for original programming. MAGAZINES AND INSERTS The Magazines and Inserts segment reported second quarter operating income of $60 million, a decline of three percent compared to a year ago. The lower operating profits were primarily the result of a smaller contribution from the free-standing inserts business, which published fewer inserts in the quarter. Rising in-store advertising revenues partially offset the decline. NEWSPAPERS The UK newspaper group posted operating income gains of more than 19 percent in local currency terms as a result of solid advertising growth compared to the same period last year while overall operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales remained stable. Advertising revenue increased eight percent, with the broadsheets The Times and The Sunday Times experiencing the largest improvements. The Australian newspaper group posted a four percent operating profit decline in local currency terms for the quarter compared to a year ago. Advertising revenues decreased five percent, as weaker economic conditions, the effect of the Goods and Services Tax The Goods and Services Tax is a Value-added tax that exists in a number of countries. Please see:
Overall, the Newspaper segment reported second quarter operating income of $135 million, a nine percent decrease from last year. Strong operating income growth in the UK was more than offset by declines in Australia and the effect of unfavorable currency exchange fluctuations in both countries. BOOK PUBLISHING book publishing. The term publishing means, in the broadest sense, making something publicly known. Usually it refers to the issuing of printed materials, such as books, magazines, periodicals, and the like. HarperCollins Publishers reported a five percent increase in operating profit versus a year ago despite a six percent drop in revenues primarily from lower margin title sales in conjunction with the Morrow/Avon acquisition. This profit growth was also driven by the solid performance of all HarperCollins divisions as well as the company's successful relationship with Scholastic, handling their customer service, billing and credit functions. During the quarter, the Company had 30 books on The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times bestseller list, including three titles that reached the number one spot. Also during the quarter, HarperCollins' authors, Gao Xingjian Gao Xingjian (gou` shĭing`jyän`), 1940–, Chinese-French novelist and playwright, b. Ganzhou. He earned (1962) a degree in French in Beijing and embarked upon a literary life, which was cut short by the Cultural Revolution (1966–76) (Soul Mountain) was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize Nobel Prize, award given for outstanding achievement in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, peace, or literature. The awards were established by the will of Alfred Nobel, who left a fund to provide annual prizes in the five areas listed above. for Literature and Gloria Whelan (Homeless Bird) was awarded the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. ASSOCIATED ENTITIES Associated Entities reported a loss of $26 million in the second quarter compared to a loss of $17 million a year ago. This increase in losses is primarily due to higher costs at our Latin America platforms as a result of growth in the subscriber base. |
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