Date: 10th November 2000

New Corp Also Pummeled By Investors


Shares in News Corp took a beating on the Australian stock exchange today (Friday), dropping 10.7 percent to A$17.84 (US$11.30) their lowest point in seven months.

Like Disney, News Corp felt the backwash of Merrill Lynch analyst Jessica Reif-Cohen's determination to cut her rating to "neutral" from "buy" citing expected weaker ad revenue for the rest of the year, higher marketing expenses for Fox TV, and probable big losses from the network's inability to deliver the minimum audience for the World Series that it had promised advertisers.

Meanwhile, the BBC reported today that Rupert Murdoch wants to close a deal to buy DirecTV before he floats Sky Global Networks, the subsidiary comprised of his satellite operations

Source: Studio Briefing