News Corp. Reports Q1 Profit

NEW YORK, November 9: The cable and broadcast TV operations
at News Corporation drove the company to a first-quarter profit of $843
million, versus last year’s loss of $433 million, on improved revenues of $5.9
billion.

Commenting on the results, chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch
noted, "The operational momentum we exhibited throughout our record fiscal
2006 continued during the first quarter of fiscal 2007. Sustained
market-leading positions at our cable networks and television stations, along
with stronger advertising at the FOX network, produced double-digit operating
income growth in the Cable Network Programming and Television segments.
Additionally, as today's results demonstrate, SKY Italia has successfully
leveraged its subscriber growth over the past year to dramatically lower its
operating losses. And while our film segment faced difficult comparisons with a
year ago, our theatrical successes over the past six months are poised to
generate significant returns in the quarters ahead as these titles are
distributed across additional distribution platforms.”

He continued, "We have also begun to capitalize on the
rapid growth at our new media assets, where News Corporation websites now rank
second in the U.S. in total page views and fifth in unique visitors. Our
recently announced landmark deal with Google for textual search is expected to
generate $900 million over three and a half years, signifying our ability to
monetize our traffic in ways that make sense for our audience and quickly
moving our new media properties toward profitability."

At the filmed entertainment segment, operating income fell
to $239 million from $368 million, with revenues down to $1.21 billion from
$1.41 billion.

In television, operating income was up 20 percent to $192
million, on revenues of $1.1 billion, thanks to higher contributions from FOX
Broadcasting Company and Fox Television Stations, which partially offset costs
associated with the launch of MyNetworkTV. At the FOX Broadcasting Company
(FBC), first quarter operating results increased 65 percent compared to a year
ago as increased pricing drove higher advertising revenues, and prime-time
programming costs fell. Fox Television Stations' operating income increased 7
percent. STAR's operating income was slightly above a year ago as 6 percent
subscription revenue growth and a decline in programming costs were mostly
offset by lower advertising revenues at STAR Plus.

Cable network programming reported first quarter operating
income of $249 million, a 26-percent gain, thanks to the growth of affiliate
and advertiser revenues at Regional Sports Networks (RSNs) and FX. Revenues at
Fox News Channel remained about the same. Cable revenues were up from $775
million to $889 million.

SKY Italia reported an operating loss of $13 million, versus
last year’s $61 million loss. Revenues were up to $622 million. The platform
added 434,000 net new subscribers over the past year, bringing SKY Italia's
subscriber base to 3.83 million.