Media conglomerate News Corp on Wednesday posted a higher quarterly profit, boosted by strong DVD sales of the film "Day After Tomorrow" and advertising sales at its cable networks. News Corp, the company controlled by Rupert Murdoch that owns the 20th Century Fox film studios and Britain's Times newspaper, posted a net profit of $386 million, or 13 cents a share, in the fiscal second quarter ended December 31, compared with $215 million, or 8 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 18 percent to $5.6 billion.

Sales of "The Star Wars Trilogy" and "I, Robot" boosted operating income of the movies division by 57 percent. A strong roster of summer releases paid off in the home video market in the year-end period, the company said.

Gains in other divisions helped offset a lackluster quarter for the Fox Broadcasting network, as a 12 percent decline in primetime ratings led to a rise in operating losses by $26 million.

Cable networks operating income rose 46 percent, led by gains at the Fox News Channel, which the company said received more total viewers on a 24-hour basis than rivals CNN, MSNBC, Headline News and CNBC combined.

Operating losses at SKY Italia, News Corp's wholly-owned satellite television service unit, rose to $105 million, from $104 million a year earlier. The company said losses narrowed 7 percent on local currency terms.

The company in January offered to purchase the 18 percent of Fox Entertainment Group it does not own for about $6 billion.

Separately, Liberty Media has said it is in early discussions to reduce its voting stake in News Corp.

News Corp said it will issue a dividend of 5 cents a share on its Class A shares and 2 cents a share for its Class B stock.

Copyright Reuters, 2005