News Corp's quarterly profits up

News Corporation owns media outlets worldwide

Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation has said fourth-quarter profit rose 4.5% thanks to higher advertising sales.

Revenue from the Fox News Channel and more new subscribers at the Sky Italia satellite TV service also boosted the figures.

News Corp, which won the battle to buy US media giant Dow Jones this month, said revenue was lower at its 20th Century Fox movie studios.

Fourth-quarter net income rose to $890m (£437m) from $852m a year ago.

Journal plans

New Corp secured a $5.6bn deal to buy Dow Jones - publisher of the Wall Street Journal - for $60 a share at the beginning of August.

Mr Murdoch said on Wednesday that News Corp was looking closely at granting free access to The Wall Street Journal's website, but had yet to make a final decision.

"It would be a very expensive thing to do in the short term," he said.

"In the long term, it may be a wonderful thing to do, but we're looking at it very closely."

He also said he sees savings "in excess of $50m" by making various cuts at Dow Jones.