Pay-per view TV enjoys a boom year with profits at record highs at Fox.
Income for their subscription-only cable TV rose a record $131m to $735m for the second half of 2010, News Corp, owners of Fox Entertainment announced yesterday, which coincided with the launch of the The Daily, the iPad’s first subscription newspaper.
The cable division, which includes Australia’s Foxtel service, will be good news for the company who has faced serious competition for the first time in the Oz market from the onslaught of free-to-air TV channels being broadcast here.
Pay TV was the most profitable sector of News Corp’s entire multimedia offering, which includes newspapers , TV channels and websites.
“News Corporation’s second quarter results demonstrate the mounting vigour of our global channels business,” News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch.
The profitability of their international channels including India’s STAR and Sky Italia were cited for special praise with huge growth among Asia and Latin America audiences also.
“Momentum at our international businesses is equally brisk, with international channel revenues in the quarter up 20% on particular strength in Latin America and our STAR channels in India,” said News Corp Chief Rupert Murdoch.
Earnings from their international cable channels grew 37%.
The media powerhouse also cited success of their movies, including Black Swan as well as the first pay TV broadcast of 3D movie Avatar, as helping its film entertainment division, although profits almost halved for the second half of last year, due to previous highs enjoyed from the success of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs on pay per view.
“This quarter also includes the worldwide home entertainment performance of Predators and the continued worldwide home entertainment and pay-TV performance of Avatar,” the News statement said.
