News Corp. Cuts 2009 Profit Forecast

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By Matt Haber

November 6, 2008 | 12:48 p.m

Murdoch: Going My Way?

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Bad news for News Corporation, owners of Fox News, The New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, HarperCollins, 20th Century Fox, and a number of other major media properties.

According to Bloomberg's Andy Fixmer:

News Corp., the media company controlled by Rupert Murdoch, plunged as much as 16 percent in New York trading after cutting its 2009 profit forecast because of shrinking ad sales at its Fox stations and newspapers.

News Corp. sank $1.08, or 11 percent, to $8.71 at 9:34 a.m. on the New York Stock Exchange after earlier dropping to $8.25. The Class A shares had lost 52 percent this year before today.

Miriam Steffens of Australia's The Age quotes Mr. Murdoch saying the numbers are a "clear reflection of the current economic downturn, which we believe will persist throughout fiscal 2009 and prove extremely challenging for the media sector."

Expect Mr. Murdoch's biographer, Michael Wolff (The Man Who Owns The News, in stores December 2nd, just in time for that media-obsessed kid of any age on your Christmas list), to weigh in on his Newser blog any minute now.