‘TV advertising in the US is good’

MUMBAI: News Corp chief Rupert Murdoch said television advertising in the United States was good, despite a slowing economy, while Asia was a long-term bet driven by the emergence of a wealthy middle class.

Murdoch said advertising for News Corp’s television properties in the United States was very good. “Our advertisement on television and the Internet is very, very good, except for local television,” he said. “Cable networks are all sold out for 12 months,” he said, adding that Britain was holding up “very well.”

Murdoch has repeatedly warned a slowdown in advertising on US local television stations and newspapers would have a severe impact on media businesses.

Shares of News Corp, which owns media properties including the 20th Century Fox movie studios, internet social network MySpace and the Times of London newspaper, are among the worst hit media stocks this year on concerns the sector will be hurt by an economic slowdown.

Murdoch, who created a global media empire from a pair of newspapers in Australia, said he remained convinced of the long-term opportunity in Asia, where India is set to become the top pay-TV market by 2012, despite increasing fragmentation. 

“In the long term, the media and advertising outlook for Asia is tremendous as wealth is created and people get educated and you see the emergence of a wealthy middle class,” he said.