News Corporation (often abbreviated to News Corp) (nyse: NWS, nyse: NWSa, asx: NWS, lse: NCRA) is one of the world's largest media conglomerate companies by market capitalisation. The company's Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder is Rupert Murdoch and the President and Chief Operating Officer is Peter Chernin.

News Corporation is a public company listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Australian Securities Exchange and as a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange. Formerly incorporated in South Australia, the company was re-incorporated in the United States state of Delaware after a majority of shareholders approved the move on November 12 2004.

News Corporation's headquarters is at 1211 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Ave.), in New York City, in the newer 1960s-1970s corridor of the Rockefeller Center complex.

Revenue for the year ended June 30 2007 was US$28.655 billion with an operating income of US$4.452 billion. Almost 70% of the company's sales come from its US businesses.

History

News Corp was created in 1980 by Rupert Murdoch as a holding company for News Limited. News Limited was created by Murdoch from the assets he inherited in 1952 following the death of his father, Sir Keith Murdoch, and subsequent expansion. The main asset left to him was ownership of the Adelaide News.

In 1986 and 1987, News Corp (through subsidiary News International) moved to adjust the production process of its British newspapers, over which the printing unions had long maintained a highly restrictive grip. A number of senior Australian media moguls were brought into Murdoch's powerhouse, including John Dux, who was managing director of the South China Morning Post. This led to a confrontation with the printing unions NGA and SOGAT. The move of News International's London operation to Wapping in the East End resulted in nightly battles outside the new plant. Delivery vans and depots were frequently and violently attacked. Ultimately the unions capitulated.

Moving into the United States

News Corp made its first acquisition in the United States in 1973, when it purchased the San Antonio Express-News. Soon afterwards it founded the National Star, a supermarket tabloid, and in 1976 it purchased the New York Post. In 1981 News Corp bought half the movie studio 20th Century Fox, buying the other half in 1984. In 1985 News Corp announced it was buying the Metromedia group of stations, setting the stage for the launch of a fourth U.S. broadcast network. On September 4 1985, Murdoch became a naturalised citizen to satisfy the legal requirement that only United States citizens could own American television stations. In 1986, the Metromedia deal closed, and the Fox Broadcasting Company was launched. This network, known on-screen as "Fox," can now be picked up in over 96% of U.S. households.