That was the message from Lachlan and James Murdoch, the top executives at Fox News parent 21st Century Fox, who addressed Ailes’ departure during the company’s call with Wall Street analysts Wednesday.
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The company said the increase in segment OIBDA was driven by the higher revenues partially offset by higher entertainment programming and marketing costs at the Fox Broadcast Network. Operating income from the domestic cable channels was up 7%.
The company also announced an additional incremental $US3 billion share buyback in addition to the $US5 billion, of which it has completed close to 90 per cent, announced in August a year ago.
21st Century Fox Inc. executives vowed to keep the “unique and important voice” of No. 1-rated Fox News following the resignation of co-founder Roger Ailes last month, rejecting major changes at a network that remained a steady source of profit in the latest quarter.
“It’s clear, we have work to do at the film studio”, CEO James Murdoch said during the conference call Wednesday, noting the precipitous drop in operating income to $164 million compared to $269 million a year ago at the filmed entertainment segment.
On an adjusted basis, earnings were $845 million or $0.45 per share, up from $800 million or $0.39 per share past year. It was expected to earn 37 cents per share on $6.68 billion in revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter. Fox says that it faced higher theatrical releasing costs for X-Men: Apocalypse, Independence Day: Resurgence, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, and Ice Age: Collision Course.
Strong retransmission consent revenue growth and 9% higher network advertising revenues accounted for the increase.
The media-entertainment empire built by Rupert Murdoch includes 21st Century Fox and News Corp., which includes the Wall Street Journal and other global newspapers. That’s a disappointing performance given the film’s $165 million production budget and the tens of millions more the studio spent promoting the feature.
The company as a whole reported quarterly revenues of $6.65 billion, a $441 million, or 7%, increase from the $6.21 billion of revenues reported in the prior year quarter.
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