New Fox streaming service on the way before 2025 ends
New Fox streaming service on the way before 2025 ends
Few details are available on the streamer as yet, but it could feature Fox primetime shows and live sports.
Ever since selling its third of Hulu to Disney in 2019, Fox has been left without an on-demand partner of its own for primetime content. The network still sends next-day streams of its primetime programming to Hulu, but that may be about to change. At the company’s annual shareholder meeting, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch revealed that it would be launching a new streaming service in 2025 and that more details would be available on the service soon.
Key Details:
- Murdoch says Fox’s new streaming service will offer “existing content.”
- The streamer will be priced in line with subscriber expectations and is not intended to pull Fox viewers away from linear channels.
- Fox operates both the subscription streaming service Fox Nation and the free streamer Tubi.
There weren’t many concrete plans revealed as to what Fox’s new streaming service would carry. The streamer will offer “existing brands” and “existing content,” according to Murdoch, a blanket statement that could include just about anything airing on Fox channels. The streamer could finally give the network a way to offer its live sports events, such as MLB games, college football, and other options outside of the cable bundle.
As far as the price of the streamer, Lachlan said the service would be priced in line with the modest expectations the company has for pulling in subscribers. He also said that Fox’s outlay on the streamer would be “relatively low, certainly relative to what our peers have spent in this space.”
That comment makes it sound as if Fox doesn’t intend to spend big on original shows for its streamer, or on acquiring titles from competitors to house on the service. That only raises more questions about what will be included with the streamer, but Murdoch said additional information would come forth in the weeks and months ahead.
One thing Murdoch tried to make clear repeatedly through his comments was the idea that the streaming service is not intended to pull viewers away from the traditional cable bundle. Rather, he wants to “really target those cord-cutters and cord-nevers” who are already outside the pay-TV ecosystem and have no intention of joining it.
Fox already operates the free, ad-supported streaming service Tubi, as well as the conservative news and lifestyle service Fox Nation. Soon, the Fox streaming ecosystem will welcome a new member into its family.
Tubi
Tubi is a free video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 200,000+ movies and TV episodes - more than any other streaming service. Its ad breaks are shorter and less frequent than most free services. Fox executives have called their service “TV on steroids.”