FACTS:

NYSE Symbol: NWS
Click Here for Current Stock Quote
Click here for Past Stock Quotes
Market Cap: 33.220 Billion (As of 3/3/03)

NYSE Symbol: FOX

Click Here for Current Stock Quote
Click Here for Past Stock Quotes
Market Cap: 23.974 Billion (As of 3/3/03)

Ordinary Shares: 2,094,411, 035
Preferred Shares: 3,208,695,775
Total Revenue: 16 billion (http://www.newscorp.com/investor/index.html)

News Corporation is listed as the 6th biggest media conglomerate in the world. As of June 30, 2002, ordinary shares for News Corporation were as high as 18.87 (A$) per share. The company reached a high  of 27.50 (A$) in 2000. Like most companies during the early stages of the millennium, News Corporation has lost a little money in the stock market. However, it has been durable nonetheless.
Click here for the annual report.

News Corporation owns 80.6% of Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. Fox has assets of approximately $23 billion and annual revenues of about $10 billion (http://www.newscorp.com/feg/index.html). In fact, Fox Entertainment Group sometimes has a higher stock quote than its parent company, News Corporation (Fox Entertainment is separate from News Corporation on the New York Stock Exchange).

News Corporation has approximately 33,800 employees.

• 17,100 in the United States
• 7,600 in the United Kingdom
• 9,100 in Australasia

---

MY ASSESSMENT:
I think News Corporation is a company that is very stable financially. It is a company that will constantly take risks and make sure those risks become successes. They started the first television network since the 1950's and has succeeded. Fox is listed as number #2 in ratings for the 18-49 age bracket. In fact, it is my opinion that Fox has changed the face of television. They produced a primetime cartoon, which was very rare at the time. They produce many low-budget, highly sensational programs that would bring in a lot of profit such as Cops or When Animals Attack. Fox makes television programs that the other networks won't because of traditional values. But the marketplace cares nothing about tradition.

Fox News has become a surprise hit. Fifteen years ago people though Ted Turner was crazy for launching CNN. Why would anyone want to watch news twenty-four hours a day? Well now there is MSNBC, CNN, and Fox News. Fox News has become the most watched of these networks. Some have criticized Fox News for being sensationalist, fascist, and more concerned with entertainment than news. They have employed Matt Drudge, Geraldo Rivera, and Bill O'Reilly, who although now respected got his break with a yellow journalism programming. Like the rest of the media, Fox News has its negative aspects. However, its conservatism does provide a balance to CNN, which sometimes tends to be partial to the Democratic Party.

If I was going to invest in any media company, I would either invest in Disney, who is making a lot of progress with Miramax, or News Corporation. However, it would have been best to invest in News Corporation in the mid-90's before its stock rose. Instead of investing in News Corporation, I would invest in News Corporation's subsidiary, Fox Entertainment Group. In the next year or two, I can envision Fox becoming the number one station in America.

 MAJOR INDUSTRIES:

All this information was found on News Corporation's 2002 SEC Annual Report.

Subsidiaries:

*Subsidiaries of Fox Entertainment Group, Inc.

All this information was found on News Corporation's 2002 SEC Annual Report.