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News Corp continues to eye cost cuts

News Corp boss Robert Thomson has joked with a US audience that Netflix should be called "Notflix".

News Corp Australia signage.
News Corp's chief executive says the global media company will continue to look to cut costs. (AAP)

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Source: AAP


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News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson says the global media company will continue to look to cut costs, but emphasised the importance of having "an editorial engine" strong enough to generate quality content.

He described cost-cutting at the company, which includes newspapers The Australian, Herald-Sun, Daily Telegraph and Wall Street Journal, as an ongoing process.

"You don't want to make the business a death by a thousand cuts," said Mr Thomson, speaking at the Jefferies 2016 Media & Communications Conference in New York on Wednesday.

"You have seen what has happened to media companies who have done that - they no longer exist.

"We have faith in the core value of our great journalism and our great content. You have to have an editorial engine strong enough to generate that content."

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But he added, "We are always going to be a quality based company, but that doesn't mean we can't cut costs and we are".

While describing the advertising market as generally unpredictable and a lot of volatility in Australia and the UK, he believes advertisers will return to quality publications.

"In terms of exactly how much print advertising there will or won't be in five years' time, that's hard to say but I do think we are going through a particularly pubescent phase in the ad market where people are experimenting," Mr Thomson said.

"I don't think a lot of ads are gaining a lot of traction digitally and I do think over a period we will see a return to quality."

Mr Thomson also praised Foxtel streaming company Presto's "superior" content, while making a dig at rival Netflix.

"Netflix in Australia is very different to Netflix here," Mr Thomson told his American audience.

"In Australia it would be better branded as 'Notflix' frankly because they just don't have the packages and programs that they have here."


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