TV, Cable Segments Boost News Corp.’s 2Q

News Corp. reported results for its fiscal second quarter on Wednesday afternoon that included television segment revenue of $1.532 billion, up 7.9% from $1.520 billion in the year-earlier period. The TV segment’s operating income was $224 million, an increase of $35 million or 19% versus the same period a year ago.

The company said the increase reflects a more than doubling of retransmission consent revenues and increased local advertising at the Fox Television Stations driven by political advertising revenues. These improvements were partially offset by lower national advertising revenues, primarily reflecting lower primetime ratings at the Fox Broadcast Network and three fewer World Series games in the current year, as well as increased costs associated with expanded college football coverage.

The cable network programming segment reported quarterly operating income of $945 million, a $63 million or 7% increase over the prior year quarter, driven by an 18% increase in revenue.

The company as a whole reported $9.43 billion of total revenue for the quarter, a $450 million or 5% increase over the $8.98 billion of revenue reported in the prior year quarter.

Commenting on the results, Chairman-CEO Rupert Murdoch said: “News Corp.’s fiscal second quarter performance reflects our strong momentum. Double-digit gains in our cable and television businesses, along with improvements in our publishing segment, drove revenue and earnings growth even as we seized opportunities to invest in our core businesses for long-term and sustainable growth.”

Read the company’s report here.