Net profits rose to $399m for the quarter to June 30 against $370m a year earlier, driving full-year net profit from $601m to $1.65bn.
The surge in profits in the fourth quarter was largely attributed to the phenomenal success of programmes such as 'American Idol'.
However, News Corp's share price slumped by 4.5% to a 16-month low of A$10.93.
The shares dropped because of concerns at BSkyB and Sky Italia, of which News Corp owns 80%.
Fox News' profits were up 40% for the fourth quarter and the full year. This was attributed to higher advertising prices introduced in 2003.
Fourth-quarter income for News Corp's cable division, which includes Fox News and FX, stood at $154m, up 60%. Income for the Fox television business rose by 21% to $351m.
The Filmed Entertainment sector, behind such blockbusters as 'The Day After Tomorrow', and 'X-2: X-Men United', revealed income of $91m, up from $85m. British movies 'Bend it Like Beckham' and '28 Days Later' also contributed to the increase.
News Corp's newspaper division posted a 14% increase in quarterly operating profit to $144m despite The Times, The Sun and The News of the World recording a slight drop in income.
This was largely blamed on spending to promote new compact edition of The Times.
Losses at SkyItalia were $19m. HarperCollins, the book publishing arm, made profits of just $6m in 2004, up $2m from the previous year but still considered very low considering the company's size and stature.
Rupert Murdoch, the chairman and chief executive of News Corp, said: "It was a year in which we translated market leadership positions into increased advertising revenues, beginning with our broadcast and cable upfronts and including record market share and profits at our station group and sustained growth at our various print assets.
"We are extremely pleased with our progress during the past year, not only for the record financial results we delivered but for the strategic direction we continued to follow."
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