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Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to play a major role in News Corp's (NASDAQ:NWS) future on the heels of a disappointing fourth-quarter earnings report.
What Happened: Digital revenues accounted for more than 50% of total revenues for the full year. That's a first for the Rupert Murdoch-controlled media conglomerate. The milestone underscores a significant shift, considering the nonagenarian media magnate spent decades amassing a vast trove of print media assets across the globe.
Among Murdoch's assets are the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post in the U.S., plus The Sunday Times and The Sun in the U.K. News Corp also owns The Herald Sun and The Daily Telegraph in Australia, as well as HarperCollins Publishers.
News Corp CEO Robert Thomson remarked on Thursday that generative AI is a part of that "digital transformation" and will likely "create a new stream of revenues while allowing [the company] to reduce costs across the business."
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Why It Matters: News Corp's boasting of digital progress is a silver lining in what has otherwise been a messy couple of years for Murdoch and his apparent corporate heir, Lachlan Murdoch.
The pair effectively control News Corp and its sister company, Fox Corp. (NASDAQ:FOX), and hold more than 40% of both firms' voting shares. But their leadership is under mounting scrutiny.
News Corp recorded just $187 million in net profit for the financial year. That's down from the previous year’s $760 million record.
The company also reported quarterly earnings of 14 cents per share — a 62.16% decrease over earnings of 37 cents per share from the same period last year.
Quarterly sales hovered at $2.4 billion, which is a 9% decrease over sales of $2.67 billion in the same period last year.
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The television corner of Murdoch's empire is also steeped in controversy. In a deposition, Murdoch seemingly regretted how several Fox News hosts endorsed false claims made by former President Donald Trump about the 2020 election.
The editorial direction at Fox proved to be a massive liability, as the company was ordered to pay $787.5 million in damages to settle the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit.
Smartmatic, another provider of electronic voting systems, is also suing Fox for $2.7 billion in damages for similar accusations.
Fox also paid $12 million to a former Fox employee who accused the broadcaster of pressuring her to give false testimony in the Dominion litigation. Fox denied those allegations.
The drama at the Fox cable network has also inspired petitioners to block Murdoch's ownership of local television stations, such as Fox 29 in Philadelphia.
What's Next: Expect News Corp to embrace AI-generated news and content. According to Thomson, the $12-billion market cap company is currently in negotiations to establish a value for its intellectual property that will play "a crucial role in the future of AI."
Photo: Shutterstock
