NEW YORK, NY, August 4, 2005 – News Corporation and The Associated Press announced today that they have formed a joint venture named STATS, LLC to produce sports data and content.

The joint venture will combine STATS Inc., the country’s leading sports information and statistical analysis company, owned by News Corporation, and MegaSports, AP’s multimedia sports service.  Under the new agreement, News Corporation and AP will each own half of the joint venture.

“This partnership joins the two organizations with the biggest stake and deepest content in sports news and information,” said Tom Curley, president and CEO of The Associated Press.  “This venture is designed to assure AP and its customers and members of an independent, accurate and complete source of sports data across media platforms.”

Tony Vinciquerra, President and CEO of Fox Networks Group, said, “The combination of AP MegaSports and STATS will create a one-stop shopping destination for organizations interested in providing the best and most comprehensive sports information and context to their consumers.  We are thrilled to be in partnership with the AP.”

“It’s a privilege and an exciting opportunity to combine forces with the award-winning sports journalism team at the AP,” said Gary Walrath, CEO of STATS, Inc.  “With the editorial content of MegaSports and the research data of STATS, we can offer superior sports coverage to our clients in the U.S. and accelerate our rollout into international markets, including Asia, Australia and the UK.”

Walrath will serve as president and CEO of the new joint venture.  He will report to a board equally comprising representatives from News Corporation and AP.  The company will retain STATS’ current headquarters in the Chicago area and its offices in Los Angeles.

The integration will offer STATS, LLC clients unrivaled customer service, technical proficiency and event coverage.  The agreement leverages news produced by AP sports writers and photographers with STATS, Inc.’s in-depth statistics and historical databases to produce a complete package of sports information for new markets, both in the United States and internationally.

STATS, LLC will be the most prolific sports information source for several key business segments: professional teams; sports agents; sports broadcast production, cable and satellite networks; interactive television; broadband, wireless and internet; game developers and fantasy sports providers; print media and wire services.  Packaging and sales of sports information for AP members will continue to be done at AP.

STATS, Inc. is a leading provider of sports statistics for individual consumers and commercial clients, supplying real-time and historical sports data to professional teams, print and broadcast media, software developers and service providers.

AP MegaSports is an online digital product that includes stories from the AP sports wire, AP sports photos, audio clips and schedules and standings. It currently is sold to both AP members as well as commercial Web sites. Under the new agreement, the MegaSports product will not change. The agreement does not affect AP’s regular coverage of professional and amateur sports.

ABOUT NEWS CORPORATION
News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total assets as of March 31, 2005 of approximately US$56 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US$23 billion. News Corporation is a diversified international media and entertainment company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast satellite television; magazines and inserts; newspapers; book publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and the Pacific Basin. http://www.newscorp.com/

ABOUT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Associated Press is the world’s oldest and largest newsgathering organization, providing content to more than 15,000 news outlets and with a daily reach of 1 billion people. AP’s multimedia services are distributed by satellite and internet to more than 120 countries.  http://www.ap.org/