Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Cable television networks are benefiting from a shift of marketing dollars from broadcasters and see a ``favorable advertising environment,'' said John Landgraf, president of News Corp.'s FX Networks.

``Advertisers are controlling their costs -- they're cutting back some local advertising, they're enriching the mix of basic cable networks,'' Landgraf said yesterday in an interview in Los Angeles. ``For now the economics really play in the favor of basic cable.''

FX beat its goals for spot advertising sales in the first quarter ending this month and is ``highly optimistic'' it will meet targets in the period ending in December, Landgraf said. He declined to give specifics. Cable networks took in 8.1 percent more advertising in the first half of the year, compared with a 6 percent drop for network TV, Nielsen Co. said on Sept. 18.

The network, which won three Emmy awards on Sept. 21 for ``Damages,'' the legal series starring Glenn Close, is also collecting more subscriber fees, Landgraf said.

News Corp. Class A shares, down 37 percent this year, fell 7 cents to $12.86 at 4:02 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading.

FX, also home to the shows ``Rescue Me'' and ``The Shield,'' sees ``substantially more growth in revenue in coming years,'' Landgraf said.

Emmys

FX limits series from other networks to about 20 percent of broadcast time. Original programming makes up 8 percent to 10 percent, Landgraf said, and commercial premieres of movies from studios such as Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures account for the rest.

``The challenge is how do you go from a championship team to another championship without those rebuilding years,'' Landgraf said. ``It was an extraordinary span between 2002 and 2004 when this channel launched `The Shield,' `Nip Tuck' and `Rescue Me.'''

FX is experimenting with ways to make money from its shows online at sites such as Hulu, the joint venture between Fox and General Electric Co.'s NBC, Landgraf said.

The networks's Emmy awards for ``Damages'' included Close's award for lead actress in a drama. Advertiser-supported basic- cable channels rose to prominence in a TV season cut short for broadcast networks by a 100-day Hollywood writers strike.

``There's absolutely a place in the American consumer marketplace for shows that are good, entertaining, light mainstream shows,'' Landgraf said. ``We do something more akin to `The Sopranos.' There's a really strong appetite, particularly among younger viewers, for rich characters, edgy, dark shows.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Gillian Wee in Los Angeles at gwee3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 23, 2008 16:03 EDT