Murdoch upbeat despite 47% drop

News Corp posted a 47 percent drop in operating income yesterday as advertising revenue declined, but Chairman Rupert Murdoch said the worst effects of the recession are behind the media company.

"It is increasingly clear that the worst is over," he said, echoing executives at other media conglomerates such as Walt Disney Co and Viacom Inc. "There are emerging signs in some of our businesses that the days of precipitous decline are done," Murdoch said.

Profit and revenue slid in News Corp's fiscal third quarter because of lower ad sales at its television stations and newspapers. The company maintained its earlier forecast that operating income would fall 30 percent in fiscal 2009.