$6.4 Billion Loss for News Corp.

NEW YORK: An $8.4 billion impairment charge at News Corporation has resulted in the company posting a second quarter loss of $6.4 billion, versus the year-ago profit of $832 million.

Total revenues at the company fell 8 percent to $7.8 billion, with declines posted at the Filmed Entertainment, TV and DTH segments, among others. "Our results for the quarter are a direct reflection of the grim economic climate," said Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and CEO of the company. "While we anticipated a weakening, the downturn is more severe and likely longer lasting than previously thought. As a result, we have been taking actions to preserve a solid level of operational profitability and a strong balance sheet without sacrificing future growth. We are implementing rigorous cost-cutting across all operations and reducing head count where appropriate. We believe our businesses are well positioned to withstand a lengthy downturn and to emerge stronger as the current economic situation improves."

At the Filmed Entertainment division, operating income fell to $112 million from $403 million, with revenues down 25 percent to $1.5 billion. The company cited difficult comparisons with the previous year, when releases included The Simpsons Movie, Live Free or Die Hard and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer on DVD, and Night at the Museum and Borat to the pay-TV market. In addition, revenues were down at Twentieth Century Fox Television.

In the Television segment, revenues were down 17 percent to $1.3 billion, with an operating income that plummeted from $245 million to $18 million. The segment reported decreased results at the Fox Television Stations, the FOX Broadcast Network, STAR and MyNetworkTV.

The Cable Network Programming segment, however, saw its revenues rise almost 10 percent to $1.4 billion, while operating income gained 27 percent to $428 million, led by Fox News Channel, the Big Ten Network and Fox International Channels.

SKY Italia saw its operating profit decline to $52 million, with revenues down to $922 million. The DTH platform ended the period with more than 4.7 million subscribers.