News Corp. steady on cable, film biz

FX, driven by 'Justified' and reruns of 'Two and a Half Men,' boosted News Corp.'s domestic nets by 14%.'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' helped film biz profit rise 24% to $347 million.News Corp. said its quarterly profit dipped to $738 million from $775 million, partly on a $91 million restructuring charge at its UK newspaper business and a one-time hit from withdrawing its BSkyB bid, both were the fallout from a phone hacking scandal that erupted this summer.The businesses were strong, however. Operating income rose 21% to $1.4 billion and revenue grew 7% to $7.9 billion for the fiscal first quarter ended Sept 30.Core TV and film businesses all performed well, with operating income higher in cable, broadcast, satellite and filmed entertainment. Only publishing was down.Income at cable nets rose 18% to $775 million.Ad revenue at the domestic nets grew 14% driven by pricing and ratings growth at FX. International channels grew revenue 24% led by STAR India and Fox Latin America.Affliate revenue rose 9% at the domestic channels and 24% internationally.Filmed entertainment saw operating profit up 24% to $347 million, driven by the worldwide theatrical perf of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," and "Rio" and "X-Men: First Class" on home video.Television revenue rose 27% to $133 million. Company cited robustnational advertising market and the broadcast of the 2011 Emmy Awards, as well as a greater than two-fold increase in retransmission consent revenues. These increases were partially offsetby lower political advertising revenue at the local television stations and increased marketing costs at the broadcast network, in support of the launch of new series "Terra Nova," "New Girl" and "The X Factor."Publishing saw operating income drop 38% to $110 million, reflecting in part the impact from closing The News of The World in the UK and lower revenue from the Austrialian newspapers. That was partly offset by higher advertising and circulation revenue at The Wall Street Journal.Italian satcaster Sky Italia saw income rise 45% to $119 million. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com