Murdoch Voices Mixed Message at Shareholders Meeting

ADELAIDE, November 15:
Speaking at the News Corporation shareholders meeting in Adelaide, Australia,
CEO Rupert Murdoch sent a double message, at once waxing optimistic about the
financial prospects of his company, but also expressing pessimism about the
long-term profitability of television, especially in the U.S.

According to local
reports, he called television “a highly challenged industry in America,” where
big events like the Super Bowl are still able to prosper, but also where most
prime time series face declining revenues as viewers get bored and advertisers
lose interest.

"I think we have to
be a little sensible about this and realize that free-to-air television faces a
lot of challenges, just from the sheer fragmentation of the audience… it’s
seeing its audience whittled down," Murdoch was quoted as saying,
referring to the plethora of choices presented to consumers.

Murdoch was more
sanguine about News Corp’s prospects, telling the meeting’s attendees that the
company was well positioned to weather the turbulence that has afflicted world
financial markets. The company reported a decline in Q1 income to $732 million,
down from $843 million for the same period the previous year. However, the
latter number included proceeds from the sale of some assets. On an
operating-income basis, earnings rose 23 percent to $1.05 billion.

—By Peter Caranicas