Burn in Hell, News Corp

"Sir, bad news from accounting, the economy's hit us pretty hard." - Mr. Smithers

"Heh, tough times, huh?  I've lived through twelve recessions, eight panics, and five years of McKinleynomics.  I'll survive this." - C.M. Burns

"Even so, sir, we could stand to lay off a few employees." - Mr. Smithers

If our grim economic times are to have a silver lining, this might be it.  From The New York Times:

The News Corporation, the media empire controlled by Mr. Murdoch, said Thursday that it lost $6.4 billion in its second quarter as profit fell sharply at its television and movie units.

[...]

Reflecting a sharp downturn in advertising across the broadcast television industry, the company had its steepest drop in the television unit, where income fell to $18 million, from $245 million a year earlier.

Out of curiosity, I went to News Corporation's website and downloaded their earnings PDF where I found this little nugget:

At the FOX Broadcasting Company, second quarter operating results declined due to higher programming costs driven by an increase in license fees for returning series

I wonder if they're referring, at least in part, to the fact that Zombie Simpsons is reported to cost them a cool $2.4 million per episode - just for the six main voice actors.  By the way, the show has not yet been publicly renewed for a 21st season and, as we all know, a show does not need to be in production to produce lucrative merchandise.