Categories: OLD Media Moves

WSJ parent reports better-than-expected earnings

News Corp. reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue as the owner of the Dow Jones Newswires and the Wall Street Journal saw an uptick in its digital real estate business and growth in its advertising revenue.

Aishwarya Venugopal of Reuters writes, “Revenue in the company’s news and information division, which accounts for over 60 percent of total revenue, rose to $1.26 billion as the transition to digital platforms pays off.

“The company said digital subscribers accounted for 53 percent of total subscriptions for the Wall Street Journal, up from 44 percent a year earlier.

“The subscription numbers suggest that there is an appetite for ‘premium news’ and ‘thoughtful commentary’, Chief Executive Robert Thomson said on a call with analysts.

“The Trump administration’s combative view of traditional news media as ‘fake news’ is helping out newspapers, which are struggling, to attract more digital readers and advertisers.

“News Corp’s advertising revenue rose 5.1 percent to $705 million. However, gains were partially offset by weakness in the print advertising market.”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.