Fox’s Q4 Ad Revenue Remains Flat at $1B

Fox ended its fourth quarter with a slight boost in revenue though profits were slightly down and advertising was flat year-over-year.

Total quarterly earnings for the company was $3.09 billion in revenue, up 2% year-over-year, thanks in part to an increase in affiliate fee revenues in the television and cable network programming segments. Fox reported a quarterly net income of $320 million, a drop from the $369 million from a year prior.

Advertising revenue accounted for $1.007 billion, staying flat from last year’s $1.008 billion. The company attributed the flat ad revenue partly to lower ratings and prices for Fox Network.

“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,” the company said in a statement.

During the earnings call with investors, Fox executive chairman and CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the double-digit digital volume growth and stable pricing at Tubi, the company’s free, ad-supported streaming service, is “a testament to its incredible momentum in the streaming marketplace.”

Murdoch expressed optimism about its upfront, which closed last week as well as the overall advertising market.

“We see a much healthier market than the nuanced one I referred to six months ago, as evidence,” Murdoch said on Tuesday’s call. “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 he also expects a “very robust election advertising cycle” due to the 2024 U.S. presidential election, which he projects will drive sales at Fox News and local news stations. 

Looking ahead to fiscal 2025, Murdoch said that along with the U.S. election cycle, the company will continue to focus execution on its sports offerings including the Fox News Super Bowl LIX and launch of the Venu sports-focused streaming service—in collaboration with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery—which is expected to launch this fall for $42.99 per month. The company is projected to gain 5 million subscribers over five years.

“It’s very important that those subscribers are focused on cord-cutters and cord-nevers,” Murdoch added.

For its entertainment offerings, Fox chief financial officer Steven Tomsic suggested spending will rise over the next year due to last year’s double strikes, which he noted saved the company more than $100 million in programming 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. “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 percent, but we 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.”