• by Wayne Friedman , November 7, 2018

Yet to complete its massive deal with Walt Disney, 21st Century Fox saw a 2% rise in revenues in its most recent quarterly earning period -- with gains from TV affiliate fees and advertising revenues.

Revenues grew to $7.18 billion in the three-month period ending September 30, with net income from continuing operations up 15% to $1.48 billion. Overall net income was up 47% to $1.4 billion.

Fox’s cable TV operations improved 4% to $4.3 billion with domestic advertising revenues growing 7% -- largely due to higher ad pricing at its Fox News Channel. International cable revenue sank 4%.

Broadcast TV business -- its network and TV stations -- was up 20% to $1.3 billion. Advertising revenue grew 22% to $799 million, mostly attributable to the airing of the FIFA World Cup and more NFL football games. Retransmission revenue gained 19%.

Filmed entertainment was 7% lower to $1.8 billion, due to lower theatrical revenue at the film studio and a lower volume of films overall. Fox said there was higher revenue from SVOD [subscription video-on-demand] platforms at its TV production studio. 

Fox says its 30% ownership of VOD platform Hulu nearly doubled its losses to $114 million, versus $62 million for the same period the year before. Its 39% ownership in European pay TV service Sky increased earnings from $110 million to $147 million.

Walt Disney’s $71.3 billion deal for Fox for about half its movie and TV business is scheduled to close in the first half of 2019.

Fox’s early Wednesday morning stock price was unchanged at $47.17.