News Corp., which owns the Fox television network, 20th Century Fox film studios and several satellite and newspaper properties, said its net profit rose to $239 million compared with a loss of $606 million a year earlier. The year-ago results included a $909 million write-down for News Corp.'s sports contracts.

Excluding a one-time gain from Fox Entertainment Group's FOX.N issuance of 50 million shares, a write-down in the company's investment in Gemstar-TV Guide GMSTE.O and other items, second-quarter earnings rose more than 50 percent to $320 million, or 24 cents per American depository receipt, from $203 million, or 17 cents per ADR, a year earlier.

On that basis, analysts on average expected earnings of 23 cents per ADR, with estimates ranging from 21 cents to 28 cents, according to research firm Thomson First Call.

Revenue at the company, home to entertainment staples such as "The Simpsons" and "Star Wars," rose 14 percent to $4.7 billion.

"It looks like a pretty good operational result," said Scott Maddocks, analyst at BT Financial Group in Sydney.

The company's filmed entertainment unit generated operating income of $255 million, more than double the year-ago quarter's $115 million. The unit's profit was bolstered by the animated feature "Ice Age," "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones," and higher syndication profits for TV shows like "King of the Hill" and "X-Files."

Operating income at the company's television unit rose to $165 million from $113 million a year ago. The Fox television network's operating loss widened due to higher programming costs but Chairman and Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch predicted that the network would benefit from the recent hit reality series "American Idol II" and "Joe Millionaire."

"Although we were disappointed with the performance of the Fox network in the second quarter, the worst is clearly behind it," Murdoch said in a statement.

Operating income at New Corp.'s cable network programming unit, which includes the Fox News Channel, the FX Channel and the Los Angeles Dodgers, rose to $121 million from $60 million a year ago.

The company's magazines and inserts unit's operating income climbed 7 percent to $59 million. But its newspapers unit saw operating income fall 10 percent to $102 million as advertising gains were offset by circulation revenue declines in the United Kingdom.

Operating revenue at the company's book publishing unit rose 14 percent to $48 million due to the success of books such as Lemony Snicket's "A Series of Unfortunate Events."

Rival Viacom Inc. VIAb.N earlier Wednesday also swung to a fourth-quarter profit, driven by a 14 percent spike in advertising revenue.