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Fox Corp. Reports Healthy 4th Quarter Income
People walk by the News Corporation headquarters, home to Fox News, on April 18, 2023, in New York City.
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Spencer Platt
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Topline:
Fox Corp. reported its fiscal fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday, showing a healthy net income of $666 million for the January-March period, thanks to higher carriage fees and lower costs (as well as no major legal settlements).
Why it matters: Because Fox is largely a broadcast network and a collection of cable channels, it offers a clear picture into the relative state of each and what that means for the broader entertainment ecosystem.
Broadcast news: The Fox network suffered a bit from not having two NFL playoff games it had a year earlier, resulting in lower advertising revenue. But the decrease in its costs related to having fewer sporting events improved its overall profitability.
Fraying cable: The company’s networks, which include Fox News and Fox Business, experienced an 8.5% decline due to cord cutting. As a result, advertising revenue also suffered: It dropped 6% compared with January-March 2023. The company raised affiliate fees, which allowed it to keep that revenue steady, but as cord-cutting accelerates that may not be sustainable in the long term.
I want my Tubi TV: Fox’s free, ad-supported streaming service Tubi continues to grow. It now boasts approximately 80 million monthly active users. Fox continues not to share any details on its revenue or profitability, which likely indicates that Tubi is not yet profitable. That said, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch was effusive about Tubi in speaking with investors Wednesday, sharing that 90% of its usage is on-demand viewing, which is more coveted by advertisers than passive streaming of its channel-like offerings.
What’s going on with Sports Hulu?: Murdoch shared a couple of tantalizing details about the new sports streaming joint venture that Fox, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery announced earlier this year. It now has more than 150 employees and is in a private, internal beta. Murdoch also seemed to suggest that the service has a name, though he did not share it.
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