1、Breaking up News CorpMurdoch does the splitsInvestors like the idea of hiving off the groups newspaper armJun 30th 2012 | from the print edition SHAKESPEARE mused that “It is beyond the power of man to bring love and wisdom to an union.” News Corporations shareholders have long agreed, arguing that
2、Rupert Murdochs abiding love for newsprint has clouded his judgment and tainted his media empire. The sluggish growth and the legal cases besetting News Corps publishing arm set it in sharp contrast to the groups robust film and television assets, which account for three-quarters of revenues and alm
3、ost all operating profit. After months of hinting that it may heed investors and separate the two parts, News Corps board met on June 27th to approve a split, and was set to confirm its decision as The Economist went to press. (Update: The firm has since announced its plans for a split.) News that a
4、 split was under consideration sent News Corps share price up by around 10%. At over $22, it is now at its highest since 2007. This bolstered the view that dividing the group will boost both companies and reward shareholders.After the phone-hacking scandal at News Corps British newspaper armwhich is
5、 still being investigated by Lord Justice Leveson, a senior judgethe group had to drop its bid for full ownership of BSkyB, a profitable satellite broadcaster; it already owns 39%. Separating the publishing division and giving it a new boss may not be enough to overcome regulatory obstacles to News
6、Corp taking full ownership of BSkyB. But it should help protect the entertainment businesses from the scandals rising legal costs, and at least ward off pressure for News Corp to sell its existing stake.Besides closing the News of the World in the wake of the hacking scandal, News Corp has recently
7、rid itself of another sour asset, MySpace (an ailing social-media site), and initiated a $10 billion share buy-back (which will have the side-effect of enlarging the Murdochs 40% stake). Such moves have supported the groups share price and pleased shareholders. But splitting the company in two is th
8、e “ultimate dream” of investors, says Michael Nathanson of Nomura, a stockbroker.Analysts worry that News Corp is still juggling too many minority stakes in smaller companies, such as Hulu (online video) and Tata Sky (Indian satellite television). Todd Juenger of Sanford C. Bernstein, an investment
9、bank, also worries about the $11 billion of idle cash on News Corps balance-sheet. However, Chase Carey, the groups chief operating officer, has been busy trying to sort out its tangle of holdings, selling some of its minority stakes at a profit and buying full control of other holdings. Investors s
10、eem prepared to cut Mr Carey some slack while he does so. Any reorganisation of the top table will probably keep him just below Rupert Murdoch, leaving his son James Murdoch, who gave up the chairmanship of News Corps British newspaper arm after the scandal, out of the spotlight for now.The fastest-
11、growing parts of the company are its television and cable businesses. News Corp was shrewd in understanding the market for conservative political TV in America: the core audience of Fox News creates a stable cashflow. The company has also made wise investments in sports broadcasting, which viewers s
12、till prefer to watch live (making it more attractive to advertisers). BSkyB owns the lions share of Britains football rights, Fox has American football, and its cable network hosts NASCAR races. The company is expanding its holdings in Australia and Latin America, and is considering a new national s
13、ports network in America to rival ESPN.The portfolio of newspapers in News Corps publishing arm (which also includes HarperCollins, a big book publisher) encompasses loss-makers like the London Times and the New York Post, as well as the Wall Street Journal, which Mr Murdoch paid too much for but wh
14、ich at least is in profit, and the Sun, a populist cash-cow. The newspaper business may not be growing, but it generates enough cashflow to sustain itself, says Jeff Logsdon of BMO Capital Markets. It is unlikely that the company will try to offload its British papers while Mr Murdoch is still alive
15、, in part because the phone-hacking trials could go on for years.The ideal outcome for investors may be a repeat of what happened when Viacom, a film and cable giant, spun off its broadcast arm, CBS, in 2005. Sumner Redstone remained chairman of both sides but Leslie Moonves, given the job of running the supposedly sluggish CBS part, showed that it could be revivedsince when the shares of both businesses have risen.
