Despite a plunge in TV ratings for American Idol, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp trebled earnings in the first three months of this year as revenues soared at Fox News.
The company also had a huge hit with the 20th Century Fox film Life of Pi.
Chase Carey, chief operating officer, said that splitting the business in two — 21st Century Fox containing film and broadcasting and the smaller News Corp with newspapers and publishing — was the company’s “top priority.”
News Corp’s net income jumped to $2.85 billion (£1.84 billion), or $1.22 per share, from $937 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago.
The January-March quarter included $42 million in costs related to the hacking and bribery investigations in the UK, bringing the total spent on them to $388 million since the scandal broke in the summer of 2011.
