While there may be truth in advertising, you can't bank on advertising results. With News Corp.(NYSE: NWS) reporting strong fiscal first-quarter results, due to a hearty rebound in ad sales, it's fair to ask whether the advertising market, as a whole, is back, or if this is merely a company-specific fluke.

While summer is usually the resting place for blockbuster movies and TV reruns, News' subsidiary Fox Entertainment(NYSE: FOX) got it backwards. Its summer slate of theatrical releases fizzled after the releases of Minority Report and Star Wars II in the company's fiscal fourth quarter. However, it rocked the ratings world with the surprise summer hit American Idol.

So while the summer ad market is usually yawn fare, Fox grew its audience and ad rates, as the superstar search narrowed. The result: Quarterly profits more than doubled at News, as revenue came in 12% higher at $3.8 billion.

And it's not alone. General Electric's(NYSE: GE) NBC posted a 59% spike in earnings for the same period, while CBS parent Viacom(NYSE: VIA) saw its television division's adjusted operating profit rise by 25%.

While companies were hesitant to open up the ad budget last year, given sluggish consumer spending habits, it appears sponsors are willing to take a more aggressive marketing approach now. That's good news for News -- and everybody else.