News Corp. 1Q Up But Online Paper Fees Delayed

Earlier, News Corp. predicted only "high single" digit percentage gains.

Quarterly profit in the studio, 20th Century Fox, surged 56 percent to $391 million thanks to the theatrical success of "Ice Age" and "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" on home video. "Ice Age" is expected to continue to benefit the company throughout its fiscal year as it moves to home video and other markets.

Cable networks, including Fox News Channel, saw operating income grow 41 percent to $495 million, but newspaper earnings shrank more than 80 percent to $25 million.

Meanwhile, a turnaround effort continued at social networking hub MySpace, which Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey called "a work in progress."

Traffic to the site was still falling and the site would earn about $100 million less than the $900 million it was promised in a three-year deal with Google Inc., which provides searches on the site, because MySpace did not attract enough visitors, Carey said. The deal expires next year.

News Corp.'s shares were up 39 cents, or 3.4 percent, at $11.95 in after-hours trading following the earnings release Wednesday, after closing up 12 cents at $11.56.

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