Rupert Murdoch’s grip on the family empire may be slipping, while News Corp profits slide down too.

One of the media mogul's most loyal supporters - billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal – has sold most of his 6.6 per cent stake in News Corporation.

Prince Alwaleed now holds just 1 per cent.

The sale has prompted more stirring of a shareholder revolt of the company’s governance structure.

Many investors have criticised the Murdoch family’s tight grip on company decisions, which is maintained by a two-tier share class system.

News Corp shareholders are split into ‘Class A’ and ‘Class B’, where only Class B shareholders can vote on resolutions.

Mr Murdoch and his family have more voting power than other News Corporation shareholders, as they own 40 per cent of the Class B shares, even though their overall stake in the company is closer to ten per cent.

Activist investor Stephen Mayne says the Prince’s sale has woken up the shareholder class war.

“Rupert now does not have any friends it seems, or any known supporters, amongst those 60 per cent shareholders, whereas traditionally he's always had his very appreciative and supportive Saudi prince voting in favour of all resolutions that he puts up historically,” Mayne told reporters.

“There is a prospect that the rest of the shareholders could band together and try and install a more democratic approach after all these years.”

Meanwhile News Corp’s net income across its newspaper holdings in Britain, Australia and the U.S has fallen 5% in the latest quarter.

Insiders say it is due to a higher effective tax rate and lower interest income.

Reports say growth in book publishing and digital real-estate services was offset by declines in the news and information segment.

Overall revenue rose 2 per cent to $US2.28 billion, but revenue declined 6 per cent in the news and information-services unit, which accounts for about two-thirds of News Corp’s overall revenue.

Advertising revenue was down 9 per cent in the quarter, while circulation revenue dropped by 3 per cent.

Revenue jumped 50 per cent over the year to $US154 million at News Corp’s digital real-estate services segment, much of which came from Move Inc, a high-traffic property listings website News Corp acquired late last year for $950 million.

The company also reported a 20 per cent annual revenue increase on the results from Harlequin books, which was also purchased last year.