WSJ reports 25% ad increase

News Corp., the parent company of The Wall Street Journal, reported third-quarter earnings on Tuesday and stated that advertising revenue at the business newspaper rose 25 percent during the quarter.

In its statement, News Corp. said, “Dow Jones’ third quarter operating results increased from the same period a year ago due to 25% higher advertising revenue at The Wall Street Journal and increased circulation revenue. These improvements were partially offset by lower information services revenue.”

The company did not disclose the amount of the circulation revenue increase at The Journal. But in an interview on Fox Business Network, CEO Rupert Murdoch stated, “Subscribers are up half a percent…We are very happy with the Journal.”

The newspaper part of News Corp. reported operating income of $131 million during the quarter, up from $29 million in operating income for the same quarter in 2009.

On a conference call to discuss the results, Murdoch said that The Journal was now producing more than $100 million in revenue from its digital operations.

In addition, Staci Kramer of PaidContent.org reports that the Journal has 64,000 active users of its iPad application.

Read the release here.