Studio Report Card: Fox
A 'Titanic' year for Murdoch studio
Rupert Murdoch and his colleagues at Fox Entertainment, the film and television arm of media conglom News Corp., had a banner year in 1998 as ripples from "Titanic" and "There's Something About Mary" spread through Fox's financial statements.
It was equally cheery at the Fox TV empire. The 20th Century Fox TV network production arm is on a roll, producing most of Fox Broadcasting Co.'s key series as well as hits for other webs.
Murdoch and his two co-chief operating officers, Peter Chernin and Chase Carey, took advantage of the bonanza to make Fox a separate publicly traded company in November through an initial public offering.
Not all the news was bright, however. Wall Street still questions Fox's future and its ability to sustain its 1998 profits. That uncertainty has eroded Fox's stock price. FBC got off to a rocky start this fall and will install a new entertainment chief this month. And some of Murdoch's cable channels are still finding their footing.
Once again the peripatetic Murdoch cut the largest figure of all studio moguls on the international scene, continuing to sew up rights to top sporting events around the globe, stanching the losses at his Hong Kong-based satcaster Star TV and ending the year by establishing key TV alliances in both Italy and Germany. That's in addition to enjoying Fox's share of the phenomenal take of "Titanic" abroad.
Add in the purchase of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team and Murdoch and his chief lieutenants had much to celebrate at year's end.
Because of this standout performance, the Fox operation kicks off Daily Variety's annual Company Reports. Deviating from our previous focus on the domestic film arms of entertainment companies, we're expanding this year to include all showbiz activity, particularly TV and music.
The Fox Company Report sections are available below. Time Warner -- which was No. 1 in '98 in combined revenue from its film, TV and music divisions -- follows on Tuesday, with subsequent reports running through the week.
