Annus Hilarious

Not all the economic news is bad:

News Corp.'s fiscal 2009 is sure to go down as an annus horribilis. The firm recorded a $3.4 billion loss for the fiscal year, which ended June 30. Last year the company recorded a $5.4 billion profit. Advertising difficulties at newspapers and TV coupled with lackluster digital operations all contributed to a particularly tough 12 months.
Fourth quarter operating income was $268 million. Earlier this year the company took a near $9 billion write-down on the value of its assets and recorded operating charges of $312 million.

The television segment-which encompasses broadcast television operations, the station group and Asian TV operation Star-reported a $4.4 billion loss in operating income in 2009, compared with a $1.1 billion gain the year before. The earnings released showed an impairment charge of $4.5 billion in the TV segment. The local TV station ad market was down 27% for the quarter and 21% for the year. Television revenue was $1 billion for the quarter and $4.6 billion for the year.

Just think how much Rupert would have lost if he had kept the Weekly Standard.