LONDON (Reuters) - News Corp. revealed on Monday its newspaper The Times is on the verge of launching a broadband television news service to build on its rapidly expanding stable of Internet offerings.
Les Hinton, the executive chairman of News International, the UK newspaper division of Rupert Murdoch's global media empire, did not provide many details about the service, but said it would pull together content from its partners and be sponsored by network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc.(CSCO.O: Quote, Profile, Research).
He made the disclosure about Times TV during a speech in Moscow at the World Newspaper Congress. A text of his remarks was later sent to Reuters.
"Our strategy is to protect and extend," Hinton said. "While we grow and protect the circulations of our newspapers, we are extending our online and mobile audiences."
He noted that online revenue at The Times increased 45 percent year over year, fuelled by mobile downloads of crossword and sudoku puzzles.
"We plan to triple our page impressions in the next few years for Times Online -- which of course includes The Sunday Times," Hinton said. "Huge investments are necessary so that the technology can match our planned developments."
News Corp. also recently announced plans to publish a print edition of the newspaper in the United States based on the popularity of the Web site among Americans.
Its Sun tabloid newspaper also has made great strides on the Internet, Hinton said, pointing to sales of ringtones, fantasy soccer leagues and online poker embedded in the Web versions of its famed Page 3, which features a topless woman each day.
Murdoch last year announced a huge planned investment on the Internet, and has already acquired several Web businesses including MySpace.com.
