WSJ parent reports decline in revenue, profit

News Corp., the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch.com and Barron’s, reported second-quarter earnings and revenue fell, but matched analyst expectations.

The news and information division of the company, which includes the business news operations, saw revenue fall 1 percent to $1.24 billion.

Dow Jones’ consumer products saw a 5 percent increase in circulation revenues, due to a 17 percent digital paid subscriber growth and subscription price increases. Dow Jones’ consumer products reached 3.4 million total subscribers, reflecting an 8 percent increase compared to the prior year.

The results also reflect an 8 percent increase in revenues at Dow Jones’ Professional Information Business.

At Dow Jones, digital accounted for 57 percent of its circulation revenues.

The Wall Street Journal average daily digital subscribers in the three months ended Dec. 31, 2019 were 1,929,000, compared to 1,709,000 in the prior year.

The earnings release can be found 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.