• by Masha Geller , August 20, 2002

I read in a Reuters story yesterday that Peter Chernin, chief executive of News Corp. Ltd.'s Fox Entertainment Group Inc., said the media giant's U.S. business is showing strength, thanks in part to a revival in ad spending by the automotive industry.

"Business is really, really good right now," Chernin said in his keynote address at the Progress & Freedom Foundation summit in Aspen, Colorado.

"The best economic indicator we have is our local TV stations," Chernin said, noting that advertising sales for September, October and even November are "very strong" across all markets.

As Reuters reported, Chernin's comments echoed similar statements by News Corp. and Fox brass last week when Fox reported rising fiscal fourth quarter revenues underpinned by strong movie performance and an uptick in TV advertising.

Fox Entertainment posted a fourth-quarter profit of 8 cents a share compared to a year ago loss of 2 cents, although as I said yesterday, it’s not a good idea to compare anything to last year.

Why am I telling you this? I thought we all could use a tiny bit of good news in the midst of these last two weeks of the summer doldrums. Plus, if Fox TV is doing well, maybe the future of their online operations and the online ad industry by extension is looking just a bit brighter.