View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

News Corp results reveal £55m cost of hacking probe

By PA Mediapoint

Ongoing investigations surrounding the closure of the News of the World cost News Corporation £55m in the final three months of last year, the media giant has revealed.

The owner of the now defunct Sunday tabloid, which was shut down last summer in the wake of the phone hacking scandal, disclosed the cost in its latest set of financial results.

Executives said about 85 per cent of the charge represented legal and consulting fees with the remainder going towards out-of-court settlements.

News Corp has settled with 54 phone hacking victims so far, but the ongoing police investigations and legal proceedings are expected to keep the company’s legal bills high in the near future.

The company paid out £57m between July and September last year due to the scandal.

Rupert Murdoch’s global empire also saw a 43 per cent decrease in publishing income in the three months to the end of December 2011 compared to the same period in 2010.

It said the £102m drop, which saw operating income plummet from £240m to £138m, was partly down to the closure of the NotW – Britain’s biggest selling weekly newspaper that shifted around three million copies every Sunday.

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

The company also blamed lower advertising revenues at its Australian newspapers for the slump.

Overall, News Corp said net income stood at 1.06bn US dollars (£888m) at the end of the quarter, up from $624m (£395m) in 2010. The rise was fuelled mainly by income from advertising and fees at its cable television networks, it said.

Chairman and chief executive Rupert Murdoch said: “The significant growth we reported in the quarter in the cable network programming, television and filmed entertainment segments clearly validates our strategy to develop and distribute superior wide-ranging content.”

  • To contact the Press Gazette newsdesk call 020 7336 5327 or email pged@pressgazette.co.uk

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network