资讯集团董事会原则上批准公司一分为二

News Corp.'s board unanimously approved a plan to split the media conglomerate in two pieces, separating its lucrative entertainment operations from its publishing business, said a person familiar with the situation.

据一位知情人士透露，资讯集团(News Corp.)董事会一致通过了一项将该媒体集团一分为二的计划，将利润颇丰的娱乐业务与出版业务分开。

The board made the decision after a meeting in New York Wednesday evening that lasted roughly an hour and a half, the person said. News Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch spoke at the meeting and financial advisers made presentations to the board. The person said many details such as who will run the publishing business have yet to be resolved. The split is expected to be formally announced early Thursday morning.

这位知情人士说，董事会是在周三晚间在纽约举行的一个会议后做出上述决定的，会议持续了大约一个半小时。资讯集团董事长兼首席执行长默多克(Rupert Murdoch)在会上讲了话，财务顾问在会上向董事会做了报告。上述人士说，很多细节尚未确定，比如将由谁来运营出版公司。预计分拆计划将于周四早间正式公布。

The entire process is expected to take about a year, and formal approval from the board will be needed before the transaction is effected.

预计整个分拆过程将需要约一年的时间，交易生效前需要获得董事会的正式批准。

One company will house entertainment businesses like 20th Century Fox, Fox broadcast network and Fox News Channel while another houses the publishing assets, which include The Wall Street Journal and the Times of London along with HarperCollins book publishing and News Corp.'s education business.

分拆出来的一家公司将从事娱乐业务，包括20世纪福克斯电影公司(20th Century Fox)、福克斯(Fox)广播公司和福克斯资讯频道(Fox News Channel)，另外一家公司将控制出版资产，包括《华尔街日报》、《泰晤士报》(Times of London)、HarperCollins图书出版业务和资讯集团旗下的教育业务。

News Corp. shares have jumped 11% since the media conglomerate confirmed it was contemplating splitting in two on Tuesday morning, as investors applauded the idea of the company's less profitable newspaper assets being carved off.

由于投资者对资讯集团剥离盈利状况较差的报纸资产的想法表示欢迎，自该媒体集团周二早间证实正在考虑将公司一分为二以来，该公司股价已上涨了11%。

Publishing generates much lower profit margins than the company's TV and film operations, and faces stiff competition from online news outlets. Industrywide newspaper advertising has fallen about 50% in the past five years, estimates the Newspaper Association of America. While the Journal has added subscribers, and has protected its content behind a paywall, the new standalone publishing company will confront deep challenges.

出版业务的利润率比该公司的影视业务要低很多，并且面临着在线资讯机构的激烈竞争。据美国报业协会(Newspaper Association of America)估计，过去五年来，全行业报纸广告累计下滑了约50%。尽管《华尔街日报》的付费用户数量增加，并且用收费墙对内容构成了保护，但新剥离的出版公司将面临严峻的挑战。

'Without deeper cost-cutting, given print advertising's continuing spiral downward, the new company's thin 7% profit margin would disappear quickly,' wrote Ken Doctor, an analyst of the news industry at Outsell.

美国市场调研公司Outsell资讯业分析师多克特(Ken Doctor)说，在没有更大幅度成本削减的情况下，考虑到纸媒广告的持续滑坡状况，新剥离出来的公司7%的微薄利润率将迅速消失。

For the entertainment company, its overall profit margin will be higher without publishing. Its stock market valuation is expected to rise above that of News Corp.'s current valuation, analysts say, as the publishing assets are seen as a drag on the stock.

对于分拆出来的娱乐公司，在剥离了出版业务后，总利润率将会提高。分析人士说，预计该娱乐公司的市值将超过资讯集团目前的市值，因为出版资产已被视为对股价构成了拖累。

Moreover, without the taint of the phone-hacking scandal at News Corp.'s British newspapers, the entertainment company may have an easier time doing certain acquisitions, say people familiar with the situation.

此外，据知情人士说，没有了资讯集团旗下英国报纸电话窃听丑闻的拖累，分拆出来的娱乐公司在进行某些收购时可能更容易。

That is important because the entertainment company could eventually have to confront the disruption posed by the Internet that has already affected newspapers. Film and television is already threatened by competition from online outlets, such as Netflix Inc. and Google Inc's YouTube.

这一点很重要，因为分拆出来的娱乐公司可能最终必须面对已经给报业带来影响的互联网的冲击。影视业务已经受到来自在线业务的威胁，比如Netflix Inc.和谷歌(Google Inc.)的YouTube。

In recent years profit growth at News Corp's entertainment businesses have been driven entirely by its cable channels, such as Fox News and FX. While entertainment profits grew 13% over the period from 2010 to 2011, all of that has come from the cable segment, whose operating income more than doubled between 2010 and 2011 to $2.76 billion.

近年来，资讯集团旗下娱乐业务的利润增长一直全部由有线电视频道所推动，比如福克斯资讯频道和福克斯广播公司。尽管从2010年至2011年，娱乐业务的利润增长了13%，但增幅全部来自有线电视部门。2010年至2011年，有线电视部门的营业收入增长了一倍以上，至27.6亿美元。

The broadcast TV, satellite TV and film businesses each saw operating profit fall over the same period. With broadcast TV, operating profit fell almost in half in that period, from $1.1 billion in '08 to $681 million in 2011 (partly due to sales of some TV stations in 2010). The publishing businesses expected to be spun off saw operating profit fall 26% in that period, estimates Nomura Securities analyst Michael Nathanson.

同一时期，无线电视、卫星电视和电影业务的营业利润全都在下降。无线电视运营利润从2010年的11亿美元下降至6.81亿美元，降幅接近一半（部分原因是2010年出售了一些电视台）。据野村证券(Nomura Securities)分析师内桑森(Michael Nathanson)估计，同一时期出版业务的运营利润下降了26%。

Film, broadcast TV and satellite TV saw improvements in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, while publishing continued to decline. Mr. Nathanson expects the three divisions to finish this fiscal year with lower earnings than in 2010.

当前财年的头九个月里，电影、无线电视和卫星电视业务出现改善，出版业务则继续下滑。内桑森预计本财年前三类业务的利润将低于2010年。

'I am perplexed about why so much value is created overnight in the entertainment company,' says Todd Juenger of Sanford C. Bernstein. 'A lot of investors are thinking they're spinning off the wonderful high growth assets into the entertainment company but…it will also include businesses that aren't high growth.'

研究机构Sanford C. Bernstein的云格尔(Todd Juenger)说，这让我感到困惑，我不懂为什么娱乐公司的估值一夜之间增加了这么多；很多投资者认为资讯集团分拆到娱乐公司的都是高成长资产，但娱乐公司同样也包括一些成长性不高的业务。

News Corp. declined comment.

资讯集团不予置评。

The film division is the second-largest entertainment business by revenue and profits, and it has enjoyed blockbuster hits including 'Avatar' in recent years. But it also has been slammed by a plunge in DVD sales, a key source of profits in the film industry over the past decade. Consumers have increasingly turned to services such as Netflix and Redbox vending machines to rent DVDs rather than buy them. PricewaterhouseCoopers estimates global DVD and VHS revenues fell 19% between 2007 and 2011. It is expected to keep falling, only partly offset by rising streaming and other electronic rental revenue.

按收入和利润计算，电影是第二大娱乐业务，近几年《阿凡达》(Avatar)等热门大片让它获益不菲。但电影业务同样也承受了DVD销量大幅下降的打击。DVD销售是过去十年电影行业的一个关键利润来源。消费者已经越来越多地通过Netflix等服务和Redbox售货机租赁DVD，而不是购买DVD。普华永道(PricewaterhouseCoopers)估计，从2007年到2011年，全球DVD和VHS销售收入下降了19%。据预计，销售收入还会继续下降，但会因为在线播放和其他电子租赁业务收入上升而得到部分缓解。

Broadcast television, including News Corp's Fox network and TV stations, was hit hard during the 2010-09 recession because it is heavily dependent on advertising. SNL Kagan says gross advertising revenue at U.S. broadcast networks fell to $17.2 billion in 2011 from a peak of $19.4 billion in 2006 and little growth is expected in coming years. Broadcasters have begun extracting payments from cable companies to transmit their channels but those fees remain relatively small, particularly relative at advertising revenue.

因为严重依赖广告，包括资讯集团福克斯电视台在内的无线电视行业在2010年到2010年经济衰退期间受到沉重打击。据研究机构SNL Kagan的数据，美国无线电视广告收入在2006年达到194亿美元的峰值，2011年已降至172亿美元，预计未来几年都不会有什么增长。电视台已经开始从转播其节目的有线电视公司收取费用，但这些费用仍然相对较少，特别是跟广告收入相比。

Fox's cable networks have been the standout, driven both by rising ad revenues and increases in subscription fees. Mr. Nathanson of Nomura Securities expects the cable networks to have annual revenue growth of 11.1% from 2011 to 2014 and even faster rises in operating income.

福克斯有线电视台是佼佼者，不仅广告收入上升，订费也在增加。野村证券的内桑森预计，2011年到2014年有线电视业务的收入将每年增长11.1%，运营收入的增速还会更快。

News Corp's revenues from cable and satellite operators could grow more slowly however if consumers start cutting the TV subscription cord in significant numbers, or if they choose cheaper TV packages without sports channels, says RBC Capital Markets analyst David Bank. He says that along with Walt Disney Co., majority owner of ESPN, News Corp. has the largest exposure of any media conglomerate to sports networks. He estimates News Corp. could lose $240 million of operating income annually if 5% of pay-TV customers switched to the cheapest-available package.

但加拿大皇家银行资本市场公司(RBC Capital Markets)的分析师班克(David Bank)说，如果消费者开始大量减少有线电视订阅，或者选择没有体育频道的便宜订阅方案，那么资讯集团有线电视及卫星电视运营商的收入增长就有可能变得更慢。他说，资讯集团和体育电视ESPN大股东迪士尼(Walt Disney Co.)一样，拥有传媒集团中最大的体育电视敞口。他估计，如果有5%的付费电视用户转换为最便宜的方案，资讯集团每年的运营收入就会减少2.4亿美元。