Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

12 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2020

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Description of Business and Basis of Presentation

NOTE 1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS AND BASIS OF PRESENTATION

News Corporation (together with its subsidiaries, “News Corporation,” “News Corp,” the “Company,” “we” or “us”) is a global diversified media and information services company comprised of businesses across a range of media, including: digital real estate services, subscription video services in Australia, news and information services and book publishing.

During the three months ended June 30, 2020, in connection with the Company's sale of its News America Marketing reporting unit and its annual review of its reportable segments, the Company determined to disaggregate its Dow Jones operating segment as a separate reportable segment in accordance with Accounting Standard Codification (“ASC”) 280, “Segment Reporting.” Previously, the financial information for this operating segment was aggregated with the businesses within the News Media operating segment and, together, formed the News and Information Services reportable segment. Following the sale of its News America Marketing business in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 and in conjunction with the Company’s annual budgeting process, the Company determined that aggregation was no longer appropriate as certain of the remaining businesses no longer shared similar economic characteristics. As a result, the Company has revised its historical disclosures to reflect the new Dow Jones and News Media reportable segments for all years presented.  

In April 2018, News Corp and Telstra Corporation Limited (“Telstra”) combined their respective 50% interests in the Foxtel Group and News Corp’s 100% interest in FOX SPORTS Australia into a new company, NXE Australia Pty Ltd. (the “Transaction”), which the Company refers to herein as “Foxtel” for post-Transaction periods. Following the completion of the Transaction, News Corp owns a 65% interest in the combined business, with Telstra owning the remaining 35%. Consequently, the Company began consolidating the Foxtel Group in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2018. See Note 4—Acquisitions, Disposals and Other Transactions; Note 6—Investments; Note 8—Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets; Note 9—Borrowings; and Note 12—Financial Instruments and Fair Value Measurements. For periods prior to the completion of the Transaction, the Company continues to refer to its equity investment in the Foxtel Group as Foxtel.

Basis of presentation

The accompanying consolidated financial statements of the Company, which are referred to herein as the “Consolidated Financial Statements,” have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“GAAP”). The Company’s financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended June 30, 2020, 2019 and 2018 are presented on a consolidated basis.

The consolidated statements of operations are referred to herein as the “Statements of Operations.” The consolidated balance sheets are referred to herein as the “Balance Sheets.” The consolidated statements of cash flows are referred to herein as the “Statements of Cash Flows.”

The Company maintains a 52-53 week fiscal year ending on the Sunday closest to June 30 in each year. Fiscal 2020, fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2018 each included 52 weeks. All references to the fiscal years ended June 30, 2020, 2019 and 2018 relate to the fiscal years ended June 28, 2020, June 30, 2019 and July 1, 2018, respectively. For convenience purposes, the Company continues to date its consolidated financial statements as of June 30.