Amy Watson
Research expert covering news and publishing
News Corp media properties - statistics & facts
News Corp: not the snappiest name for a news corporation, but does the name not aptly describe the company’s MO? Almost. News Corp’s media properties now include everything from financial newspaper The Wall Street Journal in the U.S., all the way to Foxtel in Australia, and book publisher HarperCollins. In 2023, News Corp’s book publishing and SVOD segments each generated almost two billion U.S. dollars in revenue. Dollars aside, though, the company is not without its colorful history. With media mogul Rupert Murdoch at the helm, scandals at News UK publications beginning in the 1990s reached new heights in the early 2000s and 2010s. In other news, the company’s stake in the British press could be set to grow even larger.
The News of the World closure paved the way for the Sunday edition of The Sun. According to the most recent company reports, The Sun on Sunday has the highest average print circulation of all News UK newspapers. Meanwhile, The Sun itself remains a popular paper. Outranked only by the BBC, The Sun is the second most visited English-language news website, with monthly visitor numbers eclipsing several regional news sites as well as that of The Telegraph and other longstanding publications.
News Corp also maintains a strong position in Australia. The Foxtel Group is Australia’s largest SVOD provider, and all of News Corp Australia’s papers enjoy a subscriber base of over 100,000. However, after Rupert Murdoch stepped down in 2023, certain elements of News Corp’s future remain uncertain in terms of the direction Lachlan Murdoch may choose to take. This could affect funding for politically influential paper The Australian. The paper is a product Lachlan Murdoch is said to be less invested in than his father, and he already made key changes to its editorial board in his previous role as News Corp’s co-chairman. Meanwhile, the possibility of an acquisition of The Telegraph already speaks volumes and hints that further expansion into right-leaning news media landscape is on the cards, perhaps not only in the UK but in New Corp’s other markets as well.
News of the World: the never-ending story
The phone-hacking scandals at News of the World rocked Britain. Formerly one of Britain’s most successful tabloids, the now defunct publication was shut down in 2011 after almost 170 years in print and around 40 years of Murdoch’s ownership. As of 2024, the scandal continues to make headlines, with lawyers of affected parties from Prince Harry to Guy Ritchie still pursuing legal action and widening the scope of the lawsuits to include those believed to have covered up wrongdoing and removed or hidden evidence of illegal information-gathering.The News of the World closure paved the way for the Sunday edition of The Sun. According to the most recent company reports, The Sun on Sunday has the highest average print circulation of all News UK newspapers. Meanwhile, The Sun itself remains a popular paper. Outranked only by the BBC, The Sun is the second most visited English-language news website, with monthly visitor numbers eclipsing several regional news sites as well as that of The Telegraph and other longstanding publications.
News Corp’s position in the UK news landscape
According to reports from spring 2024, News UK was considering a bid for The Telegraph and its sister magazine The Spectator. Should the move go ahead, News Corp’s portfolio of UK news publications would grow to the extent that media plurality could become a concern. Behind rival DMGT (Daily Mail and General Trust Plc), News UK occupies second place in the ranking of the leading three newspaper publishing companies controlling the national newspaper market, with a share of over 30 percent of weekly circulation. News UK papers also have the highest daily circulation and Sunday circulation.News Corp also maintains a strong position in Australia. The Foxtel Group is Australia’s largest SVOD provider, and all of News Corp Australia’s papers enjoy a subscriber base of over 100,000. However, after Rupert Murdoch stepped down in 2023, certain elements of News Corp’s future remain uncertain in terms of the direction Lachlan Murdoch may choose to take. This could affect funding for politically influential paper The Australian. The paper is a product Lachlan Murdoch is said to be less invested in than his father, and he already made key changes to its editorial board in his previous role as News Corp’s co-chairman. Meanwhile, the possibility of an acquisition of The Telegraph already speaks volumes and hints that further expansion into right-leaning news media landscape is on the cards, perhaps not only in the UK but in New Corp’s other markets as well.
