He said digital paid subscriptions had risen at many of the company's mastheads, with The Wall Street Journal's average daily digital subscribers at 1,584,000 and The Times and Sunday Times at 263,000.

The Sun's 74 million global monthly unique users fell from 84 million the year before.

News Corp's subscription video platform Foxtel, 35 per cent owned by telecommunications company Telstra after a merger with Fox Sports in April, was being "enhanced," he said, with a new Fox Cricket channel, the roll out of ultra-high definition 4K resolution and "advanced work on a sports-only IP offering". Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany is expected to launch a "Netflix of sport" by the end of 2018.

Foxtel dragged down overall revenue due to changes in the packages subscribers have been choosing and fewer high profile events charging pay-per-view. Average revenue per user fell 6 per cent. Lower advertising revenues and a new revenue recognition standard also weighed on the result, with earnings down 27 per cent.

Subscriber churn increased 0.2 per cent to 12.9 per cent, but there were more users at the end of the three months with 2.9 million up from 2.8 million the quarter before. This growth was largely a result of new Foxtel Now subscribers and Fox Sports' commercial subscribers being included in the result.

News Corp's real estate listings platform REA Group posted 17 per cent revenue growth over the three months to September 30, while earnings (before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) were up 23 per cent to $130.9 million.

REA Group chief executive Tracey Fellows said in a statement that the property platform's strong quarterly results show that "despite tougher market conditions, our customers and consumers are clearly seeing value in the products and experiences we are creating".

Australia's once-hottest property market, Sydney, has rapidly been cooling with lower levels of sales, price falls and fewer developments after years of booming buying and selling activity.

There was a 3 per cent decline in listings across the country, with an 8 per cent drop in Sydney and 1 per cent in Melbourne.

REA's share price has fallen 22 per cent from an August 20 peak of $93.35 to $72.61 on Wednesday. Over the same period, Domain's share price fell 30.7 per cent to $2.46 while All Ordinaries fell 7 per cent. Fairfax Media (owner of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age) has a 60 per cent stake in Domain.

An earlier trading update from Domain ahead of a merger of Fairfax and free-to-air broadcaster Nine Entertainment Co reported total revenue down 1 per cent as digital revenue increased 6 per cent for the first 15 weeks of the financial year. The announcement resulted in a sharp share price drop.

News Corp's share price increased 3.27 per cent to $19.12 by 10.27am on Thursday.