• May 6, 2005

As first-quarter earnings report season rolls along, cable advertising revenue offered a boost to Time Warner's fortunes, while it helped News Corp. from sagging further. Time Warner, the world's largest media company, posted slightly higher earnings in the first quarter, citing particular growth at its cable networks. Specifically, the company earned $963 million, or 20 cents a share, in the first three months of 2005. As for the other media behemoth, News Corp. reported that its quarterly profit fell 8 percent, with the major culprit being higher Super Bowl programming expenses at its Fox TV network. In addition, the company saw a loss from restructuring a regional cable programming deal. Nevertheless, News Corp. would have been even worse off if not for robust growth in cable network advertising, the company said in a statement. Overall, News Corp's profit fell to $400 million, or 13 cents a share, in the fiscal third quarter ended March 31--from $434 million, or 15 cents a share, a year earlier. -- D.K.