Fox Corp. saw its advertising revenue rise by 7 percent in its last quarter (the company’s fiscal Q4), underscoring how its strategy has separated itself from the competition, with most other media companies reporting flat or declining ad revenue at a challenging moment for the medium.
Fox says that the growth was driven by its Tubi free ad-supported streaming service, as well as Fox News.
Total revenue in the quarter was $3.29 billion, up 6 percent from a year ago, with ad revenue accounting for $1.1 billion of that total. Net income was $719 million, more than doubling the year-ago quarter, with the company also seeing 6 percent growth in affiliate revenue, and 33 percent growth in other revenue, thanks to higher content revenues.
The company is preparing to launch its new streaming service Fox One in the coming months, bringing Fox News and Fox Sports programming to streaming for the first time.
On the company’s earnings call, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch revealed that Fox One will launch Aug. 21, at a starting price of $19.99 per month.
In the cable networks division, revenues were $1.53 billion, driven by a 15 percent rise in advertising revenue, with affiliate fees also rising by 2 percent despite a decline in subscribers. Other revenues in the division rose $24 million or 39 percent, driven largely by an increase in subscribers to Fox Nation.
In the TV segment, revenues were up 6 percent to $1.71 billion, with ad revenues up 3 percent, driven largely by Tubi, offset by having fewer major soccer events. Affiliate fee revenues rose by 4 percent.
Murdoch was also asked on the call about the FCC under chairman Brendan Carr, who has launched investigations into the affiliate relationships between NBC, ABC, and their respective local station owners. Carr has mode localism a priority, and has pushed back on moves by network owners to continue raising onerous fees.
“We’re very pleased that under the new leadership of the FCC is pro local stations, is pro competitive. They’re bringing a lot of fresh ideas to the regulatory environment, and we’re very pleased to see that as regards to how it affects, you know, our affiliates,” Murdoch said. “We remain the most affiliate-focused broadcasting company in this country, and we don’t really see it impacting in any way with our affiliate relationships. If anything, it could improve them.”
He added that Fox One will include live streaming from local affiliates across the country, mirroring the product in Peacock, Paramount+ and Hulu + Live TV.