Video paints bright picture at News Corp.

Revenue up 10% at Fox group's filmed entertainment unit.

By Laura Dunphy -- Video Business, 5/13/2003

MAY 13 | Media conglomerate News Corp. focused on its entertainment unit's strong growth during its earnings call Tuesday, only touching on its high-profile bid for satellite TV provider DirecTV now under government review.

The Fox Entertainment Group reported that consolidated revenue for the third quarter ended March 31 grew 9% to $2.7 billion. The unit's net income for the period escalated 156% to $276 million.

The Fox group's Filmed Entertainment division, which includes home video, saw revenue expand 10% to $1.17 billion and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a common industry benchmark, jump 22% to $220 million. Improvement was driven by continued stellar home video and DVD sales of Ice Age and solid performance of titles including One Hour Photo, Swimfan and DVDs of TV series 24, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Simpsons.

As for News Corp.'s bid for a 34% controlling stake in Hughes Electronics, parent company to DirecTV, chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said, "It's certainly a business with tremendous potential for consumers and for our company. With DirecTV, we will have the first truly global television platform and immediately serve 25 million subscribers across the globe."

There are still many challenges, Murdoch noted. "We will face stiff competition in the United States from the larger and dominant cable companies," he said.

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