Fox Corp.’s fiscal Q4 delivered a mixed bag for the company, with advertising essentially flat from the same quarter last year, overall revenues up slightly and profits down slightly, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Overall revenue in the quarter were $3.09 billion, up 2 percent from last year, and driven by affiliate fee increases at the Fox Broadcast Network and in the cable division, led by Fox News. Advertising revenue accounted for $1.007 billion of that total, essentially flat from the $1.008 billion haul the company had a year earlier.
The company said that “broadcasts of the UEFA European Championship and CONMEBOL Copa América, along with continued growth at Tubi were offset by lower ratings and pricing at the Fox Network.”
Meanwhile net income slipped to $320 million, though that was largely due to the paper value of investments.
On the advertising, side, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch indicated on the earnings call that, at least for his company, the ad business appears to be turning a corner.
“We see a much healthier market than the nuanced one I referred to six months ago, as evidence: Our upfront commitments were strong, our focused portfolio of market leading properties in sports, news, entertainment and streaming delivered year over year growth in both linear and digital advertising commitments as well as growth in overall portfolio pricing in this year’s upfront,” he said. “Notably, we start with double digit volume growth and stable pricing at Tubi, which is testament to its incredible momentum in the streaming marketplace. At the local level, we are expecting a very robust election advertising cycle that will be weighted to our second quarter, and if anything, as the polling tightens, the election map may be extended to more of the markets in which we operate.”
However Fox is framing the next year—fiscal 2025—as a big one, led by the upcoming presidential election, which should funnel cash to its local TV stations and Fox News, as well as next year’s Super Bowl.
At Fox News, Murdoch heaped praise on the brand, noting that its viewership has been steadily rising (even as its costs have gone down compared to last year, per Fox’s quarterly report).
“The recent news cycle has been nothing short of extraordinary, and when news breaks, people turn to the news brand they trust,” Murdoch said on the call. “The strength of our news coverage is unmatched, and Fox News remains the clear first choice for viewers during the most pivotal moments. The fourth quarter saw audience levels return to growth at the Fox News Channel, driven by our political coverage and strong primetime lineup, Fox News exited their fiscal year as the most watched network in all of cable in total day and in prime time, and gained share amongst cable news networks in both prime and total day versus last year.”
And on the sports side, Murdoch reiterated his excitement about the launch of the Venu streaming sports bundle, once again confirming that the company is targeting single-digit millions in terms of subscribers.
“Obviously, it’s very important that those subscribers are focused on cord-cutters and cord-nevers,” he added. “We feel that — and all the partners at Venu feel very strongly — that we can target our marketing and our subscriber acquisition to sports fans that are not currently in the cable television bundle.”
And on the entertainment side, Fox CFO Steven Tomsic indicated that spending will rise over the next year, though that is mostly due to last year’s strikes, which he says saved the company $100 million in costs.
“When we look at Entertainment, we look at it from the perspective of, how do we get our cost-per-hour down?” Tomsic said. “And when I compare what I think fiscal ’25 will look that look like versus fiscal ’23 that cost per hour is probably down 10 to 15%, but we obviously want to have a balanced broadcast network that serves our cross promotional needs, serves our capacity to monetize from an advertising perspective, and serves our capacity to monetize our content in Downstream windows and as owners of the content.”
