News Corp would have made a LOT more money if it weren't for one thing: Back in 1996 when Fox News launched, digital cable pretty much didn't exist, and there was practically no room on any cable systems for new channels. So Rupert Murdoch had to sign contracts with dozens of cable companies in which he paid THEM to carry FNC. (Usually it works exactly in reverse, with cable companies paying the channels for the right to carry them.) These contracts were almost all for ten years; it was the only way Murdoch could get the cablecos to release any channel space.
Most of those contracts still have three years to go. But now that FNC is one of the most popular cable channels PERIOD (not just a popular news channel), once those contracts expire the cablecos will have no choice but to treat FNC like they treat all the other channels, and pay through the nose for the right to continue carrying FNC. Once that happens in fall 2006, look for News Corp profits to EXPLODE. And, flush with all that new money, FNC will expand like crazy ... more reporters, more bureaus, etc ... and CNN will likely be crushed. (Who knows if MSNBC will even still exist by then, at the rate they're going.)