Team would give Murdoch empire a “trophy”

Friday, June 27, 1997 | 11:17 a.m.

LOS ANGELES -- Under Rupert Murdoch's ownership, the Los Angeles Dodgers would become a small, though highly visible, cog in a vast media empire that spans six continents.

Under the umbrella of Murdoch's Australia-based News Corp. lies a widely flung collection of newspapers, magazines, movie and television studios, and TV broadcast, cable and satellite operations.

"It's truly the most global (business enterprise) in the world in many respects," said Harold Vogel, an entertainment industry analyst for Cowen & Co. in New York.

Murdoch is so big that, unless you live in Antarctica, you may find it hard to escape his reach.

He owns Fox Broadcasting Co., plus 21 television stations and the Fox Sports and Fox Entertainment networks. In cable, he owns Fox/Liberty Media and the Fox News Channel and half of the ASkyB satellite system.

If you watch the "X-Files," "Melrose Place," or National Football League games, you're supporting Murdoch. And that's just in the United States.

Murdoch also owns or has a stake in broadcasting, satellite and cable operations in Australia, Japan, China, Germany, Great Britain and Latin America.

In print media, his reach is global as well. Murdoch owns HarperCollins Publishers, TV Guide, the New York Post, the respected Times of London and Sunday Times, plus the British tabloids The Sun and News of the World. He owns all or part of more than 100 other dailies and weeklies in Australia, Fiji and Papua New Guinea.

In his latest venture, Murdoch is joining Tele-Communications Inc. in an $850 million deal to create Fox Sports Net, a cable sports network that is expected to challenge ESPN's dominance in the field.

The latest buying spree also includes the planned $1.7 billion purchase of evangelist Pat Robertson's International Family Entertainment, parent company of The Family Channel.

Although the company's debt level is still manageable, Murdoch may need to slow down and consolidate, Vogel said. He faces start-up costs for the new Sky Entertainment Services in Latin America, of which he owns 30 percent, and has been losing $85 million to $100 million per year with Star TV in China -- a consequence of disappointing ad and subscriber sales, Vogel said.

"He's had a lot of acquisitions this year. One would think he would need time to assimilate the latest acquisitions," he said.