News Corp.’s filmed entertainment unit reported operating income of $189 million during the company’s second fiscal quarter (ended Dec. 31), a 42% decline from the year-ago period. The decline, News Corp. said, primarily reflects the difficult comparison to the prior year’s results, which were led by the worldwide home entertainment success of “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.”
Sci-fi flick “Predators” was the home entertainment highlight of Fox’s 2010 holiday season, along with the continued worldwide home entertainment and pay-TV performance of James Cameron’s “Avatar.”
Surveying the studio’s 2011 prospects with analysts on Wednesday, News Corp. COO Chase Carey said that Fox would likely unveil a “premium VOD” service for new theatrical films during the first half of the year (via Home Media Magazine). Carey’s emphasis of premium VOD’s importance — along with his studio’s reluctance to license new-release films to Netflix — echoed views that Time Warner chief executive Jeff Bewkes offered to analysts during his own company’s earnings call earlier this week.
Studio units at two other media conglomerates, Sony Corp. and Viacom, also reported difficult comparisons with prior-year hits during calendar Q4 2010.
↧
