• by Wayne Friedman , February 8, 2012

If there was any doubt that Fox network didn't do well this fall, all one needed to look at was the bottom line -- literally.

News Corp. said its fiscal second-quarter 2012 financial results reflected a boost in the operating income of its television businesses -- of which Fox is a part -- by 25% to an operating income of $189 million. The Fox network in the U.S. grabbed big double-digit-percentage rating gains during the fourth quarter.

The reasons for the hike include higher advertising revenues resulting from higher-than-normal ratings for "X-Factor" and "New Girl" -- as well as a full complement of seven games from October's World Series, which always improves profits.

News Corp. television businesses witnessed an 11% increase in revenue to $1.5 billion. For the company as a whole, News Corp. gained 2% in revenue to $8.98 billion and 16% improvement in operating income to $1.5 billion.

News Corp. also noted that revenues from retransmission fees grew 100% in the quarter versus the same period a year ago.

While TV did well, Fox's theatrical and home entertainment business fared even better. The Fox Filmed Entertainment businesses more than doubled profit to land at $393 million on a 17% gain in revenues to $2.1 billion. Much of this comes from home entertainment revenue from “Rio,” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “X-Men: First Class” and “Mr. Popper’s Penguins,” as well as theatrical revenue of “Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked” and “The Descendants.”

News Corp.'s cable TV group grew 20% to $882 million in income and 9% in revenue to $2.2 billion. U.S. cable TV advertising revenue grew 6% -- primarily because of ratings growth at the FX Network. This was partially offset by advertising declines at the Fox Sports regional sports networks that resulted from the NBA lockout.

News Corp., however, was not immune to the declines in print businesses, with net income dropping 43% to $218 million and down 9% in overall revenue to $2.1 billion. This was the result of lower advertising revenues --- at the Australian newspapers and lost income from the closure of its U.K.-based "News of the World."