This is a fairly busy news day for the man who owns the news. Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp released its quarterly earnings report and is still smarting from the smack it received by the marketplace. While the economy overall is in a dismal state, and particularly media enterprises, News Corp has suffered a loss that exceeds all of their competitors. Murdoch acknowledged the significance of their record-setting $6.4 billion loss, saying the pitiful results were…

“…a direct reflection of recession that is deeper than anyone predicted. Indeed this is the worst global economics crisis we witnessed since NewsCorp was established more than 50 years ago.”

Almost every division, film studios, TV stations, Internet, and especially, newspapers, suffered steep losses. The company wrote down $3.6 billion on the Wall Street Journal alone. And going forward, News Corp advised Wall Street that income will decline another 30% for fiscal 2009. By way of explanation, Murdoch confirmed a theory that I set forth last year. He revealed that the loss of advertising revenue from auto manufacturers was the “thing that really is killing us.” That’s not surprising when you note that four of the top five advertisers are car makers. Murdoch also revealed something with which regular viewers of Fox News should be well acquainted:

“Even on [finance] terms, we have never been a company that tolerates facts.” [Some reports now say that Murdoch said “fat” not “facts”]

The good news is that the cable group was not amongst the contributors to the downside. Part of the reason may be that Fox News recently renegotiated their carriage agreements with cable operators, which likely produced a favorable comparison to the previous year’s income.

In addition, Fox News seems to be enjoying a ratings revival. For the two weeks following Barack Obama’s inauguration the network performed markedly better than the two weeks prior. However, it appears that the bulk of the improvement came from just two programs – the newly launched Glenn Beck and the reconstituted Hannity (minus Colmes). So the Fox strategy of doubling down on the neanderthal conservatism may be paying off.

I would conclude that this bump was the result of frightened and depressed right-wing viewers huddling in the warmth of the channel where they get the most comfort. It must be a lonely and harrowing experience to have witnessed the election of a Socialist Muslim who was born in Kenya and refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The red glow of the Fox “Breaking News” graphic is soothing in a way that can only otherwise be achieved with an abundance of prescription drugs. I would just like to remind the Fox Junkies that there will always be a morning after.