News Corp president places faith in US version of Pop Idol

The president of News Corp says the US advertising market is improving.

Peter Chernin says ad revenues are expected to be up between 3% and 4% in the first quarter.

Mr Chernin also hopes a June launch of a US version of Pop Idol will turn around the fortunes of News Corp's Fox Television network.

Fox saw profits dragged down in 2001 after it lost ratings to competitors NBC and CBS.

He told the Financial Times New Media and Broadcasting conference: "It feels as if we have hit the bottom, but we are a long way from hitting boom time".

Mr Chernin told Ft.com that there has been little improvement in Europe, where News Corp's ad revenues come mainly from UK newspapers such as the Times and the Sun.

While display advertising has held up fairly well, classified ads have been hit by the economic downturn.

In Asia, New Corp's ad sales have remained firm, except in the Indian market, which saw pressure in December as talk of war between India and Pakistan escalated.

Asia is expected to be further depressed by recent unrest between Hindus and Muslims there.