* Liberty Interactive creates two new tracking stocks

* Tracking stocks focus on retail and minority stakes

* Liberty Media adj op inc down 15 pct on programming costs

By Yinka Adegoke

Feb 23 (Reuters) - John Malone's Liberty Interactive posted a rise in operating income for the fourth quarter helped by QVC's international performance off-setting a dip at its US business

Liberty Interactive's operating income for the fourth quarter rose by 3 percent to $408 million driven by QVC's international performance offsetting a dip at its US business.

Revenue rose 7 percent to $2.89 billion.

But sister company Liberty Media posted a drop in fourth quarter operating income due to higher costs at its Starz cable pay-TV unit.

Liberty Media's adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization decreased 15 percent to $93 million in the fourth quarter primarily due to an acceleration of production cost amortization as a result of the decline in the home video business last year. It also spent more on advertising and marketing of its shows like "Boss."

Starz revenue rose 8 percent to $432 million as it increased subscribers at its Starz and Encore channels.

Malone split off Liberty Media from the retail-focused Liberty Interactive Corp last September. Liberty Media also owns key equity stakes in satellite radio company SiriusXM , concert promoter Live Nation and book retailer Barnes & Noble.

Liberty Interactive said its board approved the recapitalization of is common stock into shares of two new tracking stocks Liberty Interactive and Liberty Ventures.

The Liberty Interactive tracking stock will follow QVC, the eCommerce companies, a 34 percent stake in HSN shopping channel, around $500 million of cash and around $5 billion of debt and liabilities.

The Liberty Ventures tracking stock will be attributed to its mix of minority stakes in businesses including Expedia , TripAdvisor, Time Warner Inc, Time Warner Cable Inc, AOL, Interval Leisure Group, Tree.com and Liberty's green-energy investments, plus around $1.25 billion of cash and around $3 billion principal amount of Liberty's publicly traded exchangeable debentures.

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