News Corp reported fourth quarter results on Thursday, with HarperCollins turning in a strong quarter, recording sales of $490 — up $83 million from the same period a year ago. Along with the higher sales, book publishing EBITDA was much higher too, at $71 million, compared to $39 million a year ago. One big, profitable boost was $28 million of revenue from the sublicensing agreement for J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, in which Amazon Studios acquired global television rights. That’s the “advance” for the rights, and the primary expected cash benefit from the agreement for the foreseeable […]
