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What (if anything) News Corp. has to do with the future of news

How will News Corporation’s future earnings look once it's free of its newspaper division? The split is scheduled for next month.

News Corp. is made up of newspapers like the Wall Street Journal and New York Post, but also cable TV channels like Fox News and FX — and don’t forget, a movie studio. Most analysts say the print side has been holding back the entertainment side. So what will happen to the new entertainment company, when it’s spun off?

James Dix, who follows News Corp. for Wedbush Securities, says earnings at the new entertainment company, to be called Twenty-First Century Fox, will be strong.

“If [it] continues growth patterns that [we’ve] seen for the cable and the television, [we]’re going to see pretty strong double digit growth,” Dix explains.

What’ll happen to the print division? It’ll keep the News Corp. name. It won’t be splashy.

Brett  Harriss, a News Corp. analyst at Gabelli & Company, says keep your eye on the publishing side. Its stock might get pushed down to a bargain basement price.

“It might get ignored,” he says. “The price might fall such that it’s an attractive investment.”

Harriss says News Corp.’s publishing side might be small, but it is expected to keep growing.

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