Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- News Corp.'s operating income is rising above its forecast for growth in the ``high teens,'' the media company's billionaire chief executive officer, Rupert Murdoch, said today.

``We are running ahead of that but it's too early to change that guidance,'' Murdoch told shareholders at a meeting in Adelaide, Australia. The New York-based company had a record October for advertising sales with trading in the second quarter ending Dec. 31 ``going strongly,'' he said.

Murdoch, who led News' $5.2 billion purchase of Dow Jones & Co., plans to end charges for the Wall Street Journal's Web site to boost internet traffic from a current level of about 1 million subscribers. News agreed to buy Dow Jones, publisher of the Journal, in August with the purchase due to be completed in December.

``We are studying it and expect to make that free,'' Murdoch, 76, said today. ``Instead of having one million, having at least 10 million or 15 million in every corner of the earth.''

A free Web site providing many of the content features of the Journal would attract ``very large sums'' of advertising, Murdoch said. The site currently gets about $50 million annually from subscription fees.

News last week reported a 13 percent fall in net income from a year earlier, when a gain from the sale of investments boosted the results. The company's sales topped analysts' estimates, helped by ticket sales from ``The Simpsons'' movie.

Political View

The Australian-born Murdoch declined to endorse either the incumbent conservative government of John Howard, or the Labor opposition led by Kevin Rudd, in the national elections on Nov. 24.

``I have no view on politics at all,'' he said.

Murdoch launched Fox Business Network last month to target affluent viewers and plans to spend $200 million on the channel to compete with top-ranked CNBC, owned by General Electric Co. The new network also competes with Bloomberg Television, owned by Bloomberg LP.

Fox Business may have as many as 45 million subscribers by the end of 2008, up from 30 million when it launched, Murdoch said today.

News owns more than 110 newspapers, the Fox broadcasting network, cable television channels, HarperCollins book publishers and the Twentieth Century Fox film studio.

Murdoch said the Fox network may gain an initial benefit from the current Hollywood writers strike with reality shows such as ``American Idol,'' re-runs of popular shows and cartoons.

Georgia Investment

Murdoch, who took control of the Imedi media business in Georgia last month, said there was ``no risk'' to its investment after the former Soviet republic declared a state of emergency last week.

News gained Imedi television on Oct. 31 from billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, who is wanted by Georgian authorities as a suspect in an alleged coup attempt. Patarkatsishvili said Nov. 10 he plans to run against President Mikheil Saakashvili in January elections.

Eighteen analysts recommend buying News Corp. shares and three suggest holding them, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. No analyst recommends selling the stock.

The company's Australian-listed stock fell 4 cents to A$24.45 in Sydney today.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Fenner in Adelaide rfenner@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 13, 2007 01:57 EST