Twenty-First Century Fox 2003 Annual Report Download - page 11

and our ability to contain piracy, we have great hopes that
Sky Italia will soon become a major profit contributor.
Both Hughes Electronics and Sky Italia, as distribution
platforms, will enhance the long-term strength of our
Company as a whole, providing us with a better balance of
advertising-dependent and non-ad-dependent revenues.
Of course, the past year was not without its hurdles. In
response to the underperformance of Gemstar-TV Guide,
we set about reviving that asset’s potential with an opera-
tional and management restructuring that we are confident
will put the business back on track. Although there remains
much work to be done, progress has been made – particu-
larly at TV Guide, whose circulation continues to lead all
other weekly magazines in the U.S.
Across the Company, fiscal 2003 was a year in which
nearly every one of our businesses achieved substantial
growth and meaningful improvements. HarperCollins once
again posted record profits and more than 150 best-selling
titles worldwide. From the increasing prominence of our
Washington, D.C.-based political magazine, The Weekly
Standard, to the steady market share gains at News America
Marketing; from the Australian television leadership of
FOXTEL to the digital television innovations of NDS, all
our assets performed extremely well and have considerable
operational momentum going forward.
During a demanding year of international conflict, eco-
nomic uncertainty and fierce competition in the media
industry, News Corporation has excelled. That excellence is
due to the dedication of our stable team of managers; to the
hard work and exceptional skills of our more than 35,000
employees around the world; and to the guiding vision that
we first set forth 50 years ago. Among our greatest respon-
sibilities is to continue to reward our shareholders with
strong results. And while we are proud of having fulfilled
that promise in fiscal 2003, we are more determined than
ever to do so even more rewardingly in the future.
9The News Corporation Limited
significant developments was our agreement, in April, to
acquire 34 percent of Hughes Electronics, including its
DIRECTV platform: the leading digital satellite television
service in the U.S. Pending regulatory approvals for the deal,
which we hope to secure by the end of the calendar year,
our plan to offer enhanced interactive services, technological
innovations and improved marketing and customer service
will provide both superior service for American con-
sumers and accelerated growth for shareholders. For
News Corporation, completing this transaction would
mark the culmination of our longtime pursuit of satellite
TV distribution in the U.S. – and provide the missing link
in an unprecedented global satellite television platform.
A second strategic objective was realized with our
launch, shortly after the close of the fiscal year, of an
unprecedented satellite television service in the Italian
market. Sky Italia was created in April by merging our
Stream platform with its former rival, Telepiu. The com-
bined platform, 80.1 percent-owned by News Corporation
and 19.9 percent by Telecom Italia, began service to
more than two million subscribers in July 2003 and
is already showing signs of solid growth. Given Italy’s
limited free-to-air services and absence of cable, the
appetite of Italian viewers for high-quality television
Enhanced interactive services,
technological innovations and
improved marketing and customer
service will provide both superior
service for American consumers
and accelerated growth for
shareholders.