NEW YORK, NY, August 19, 2005 –
Fox Television Stations, Inc. today filed applications with the Federal Communications Commission seeking approval of the transfer of the licenses of its 35 owned-and-operated stations to a domestic subsidiary of News Corporation and its shareholders.
The request follows the November 12, 2004 reincorporation of News Corporation, which was previously an Australian company, in the United States. The proposed transfer will be accomplished by an internal restructuring of the relevant corporate entities and will not affect the equity ownership of the Fox-owned stations or any aspect of their day-to-day operations.
Restrictions on foreign ownership of broadcast stations had prohibited News Corporation from controlling the Fox-owned stations when it was an Australian company. Now that News Corporation is based in the U.S., and both its voting and total shares outstanding are overwhelmingly owned by U.S. citizens, ownership of the stations can be legally transferred to News Corporation and its shareholders. The proposed transfer will reduce corporate complexity for News Corporation.
Fox Television Stations, Inc., one of the nation's largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprises 35 stations in 26 markets, covering nearly 45 percent of U.S. television homes. This includes five duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and Washington D.C., as well as duopolies in Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix and Orlando.
News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total
assets as of June 30, 2005 of approximately US$55 billion
and total annual revenues of approximately US$24 billion.
News Corporation is a diversified international media and
entertainment company with operations in eight industry
segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network
programming; direct broadcast satellite television;
magazines and inserts; newspapers; book publishing; and
other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted
principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the
United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and the Pacific Basin.
Contacts:
Andrew Butcher 212-852-7070
Investors: Reed Nolte 212-852-7092