Dow Jones Delivers for News Corp’s Earnings

Dow Jones continues to be the star at News Corp.

Total average subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products rose 7% in the third fiscal quarter from the prior year and surpassed 6 million to 6.1M across our portfolio. That compares to a drop at the New York Post’s digital network, which reached 85 million unique users in March 2025, compared to 125 million in the prior year.

Ad revenue was flat for the quarter with both print and digital advertising showing no movement.

Dow Jones key figures for the quarter compared to a year earlier:

• Dow Jones revenue for the quarter increased 6% to $575 million, with digital revenue accounting for 82% of the total, a one percentage point uptick over last year
• Dow Jones Risk revenue increased 11% compared to a year earlier
• Dow Jones Energy revenue increased 10% compared to last year, driven by strong retention rates and new products
• Dow Jones revenue was impacted  by lower Factiva revenues primarily due to an ongoing customer dispute
• Dow Jones as a unit reported segment EBITDA of $14 million, up 12% from the prior year

News Media key figures for the quarter compared to a year earlier:

• Total revenue decreased $42 million, or 8% with circulation, advertising and printing revenue contracts all decreasing
• Circulation and subscription revenue decreased $10 million, or 3%, of which $7 million was due to foreign currency fluctuations
• Advertising revenue decreased by $19 million, or 9%, which included a $4 million negative impact from foreign currency fluctuations
• Segment EBITDA increased by $6 million, or 22%

The professional division of Dow Jones (minus all consumer revenue) reported revenue growth of $31 million, or 6%, compared to the prior year, driven by subscription and circulation revenue.

“The team remains focused on B2B growth, including up-selling and new products across Risk and Compliance and Dow Jones Energy. We are pleased with the performance and continue to expect improvement in growth in the second half, compared to the first half,” Chief Financial Officer Lavanya Chandrashekar said on the earnings call. “Given the mix of subscribers and timing, we expect circulation revenue growth to be more similar to the second quarter, which was also very strong.”

The company said on the earnings call that it expects margins for the division to continue increasing. Acquisitions should continue for the segment but the company said it won’t overpay for assets.

“There’s no reason to presume that those double digit increases will not continue, particularly at Risk and Compliance and Energy, where we have been adding new services modestly and creating new products,” Chief Executive Officer Robert Thomson said on the call.

Total subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal grew 3% compared to the prior year, to over 4.3 million average subscriptions. Digital-only subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal grew 5% to over 3.9 million average subscriptions, and represented 90% of total Wall Street Journal subscriptions.

Dow Jones is strategically moving subscribers from discounted entry-level offers to standard pricing.

“The Dow Jones team is rather confident that the phasing of subscribers from discounted entry level officers offers to more standard pricing is proceeding well, and that strategy will be reflected in the digital numbers in coming quarters,” Thomson said.