Robert Thomson’s hunch came true on Friday when the US-listed media group, which owns several newspapers, pay-TV and streaming services in Australia, reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
The company’s intellectual property will inevitably be used to train AI engines, surfaced in response to AI queries, and aggregated and monetized by other parties, he told investors.
“We expect a fair share of that monetization,” Thomson said.
“Generative AI cannot become degenerate AI.”
But the former Sydney Morning Herald reporter also noted the potential benefits of AI for News Corp, from creating images for cartoon stories to saving time in administration and customer service.
“As noted management consultant Socrates said, ‘The secret of change is to focus all your energy on building the new instead of fighting the old,'” he quipped.
Sales fell 2% to US$2.45 billion (US$3.66 billion), but beat the consensus forecast of US$2.39 billion for the three months ending March 31.
Thomson said the acquisitions of commodity services OPIS and CMA and the growth of risk and compliance products helped professional information firm Dow Jones & Co. increase its revenues by 38%, helping media giants face economic challenges across the industry. said it helped to overcome
“These results demonstrate a fundamental difference in the personality of News Corp compared to other media companies,” he said.
“Our core non-ad revenue has been particularly strong at a time when advertising is decidedly lackluster in some parts of the world.”
But the company, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch, said unfavorable currency fluctuations and higher costs were responsible for an 11% decline in earnings excluding interest, tax and depreciation.
Net income for the quarter was $59 million, down 43% from $104 million a year ago. This was due to an increase in depreciation expenses and an increase in losses from affiliates.
Thomson said he was “pleasantly surprised” that print has overtaken digital, fueled by growth in travel advertising across News Corp’s print mastheads in Australia.
Earnings per share fell to 9 cents from 14 cents a year ago and beat analyst expectations of 5 cents.
The company announced last quarter that it will cut 1 in 20 jobs, which it expects to contribute to annual savings of $160 million.
Mr Thomson vehemently called for the release of Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovic, who he said was “wrongfully and willfully detained” in Russia.
“We believe that justice and common sense will triumph and that Evan will be released soon.”
