Fox’s profits spike thanks to Tubi, World Cup, Midterms
Fox’s profits spike thanks to Tubi, World Cup, Midterms
World Cup broadcasts, political ad revenue, and continued good performance from Tubi helped Fox reach new heights in the quarter.
Fox was probably quite eager to drop its most recent quarterly earnings report. On Monday, the company revealed its results for the three-month period starting in July and ending on Sept. 30, which is the third quarter for most of us, but is the fiscal first quarter of 2027 for Fox. The details show a company increasingly aided by streaming in terms of generating revenue, in no small part thanks to its free service Tubi.
Key Details:
- Healthy number: Fox generated over $900 million in net income in its most recent quarter.
- Free money: Tubi is expected to be a major revenue engine for Fox going forward.
- Favorable cycles: The World Cup and political ads for midterm elections bolstered Fox’s quarterly results.
Fox reported a net income attributable to shareholders of $943 million, as compared to $599 million in the year-ago quarter. Unlike most media companies, which are seeing revenue from their TV channels fall like a stone, Fox’s cable network revenue rose 8% to $1.8 billion in the quarter.
Continuing growth from Tubi helped Fox rack up its impressive quarter. Tubi first became profitable in its own right in the prior-year period, and while Fox did not break out the streamer’s numbers specifically in its report, it did say that the streamer had shown “continued digital growth.”
Ad revenue also jumped for Fox, with a 60% increase in advertising at the company’s TV division. Political ads may not be a viewer’s favorite thing to watch in an election cycle, but for companies like Fox, they mean a windfall from candidates and organizations that want to put their messages in front of a large audience.
World Cup telecasts also helped Fox increase its ad revenue during the quarter, and a 9% increase in distribution fees also played a part in Fox’s bonanza. World Cups and election cycles don’t come around every year, but the company is in a very strong position despite how heavily it’s invested in cable assets as viewers continue to depart that medium.
“We commenced the year with the stellar performance of the FIFA Men’s World Cup, the kickoff of the college football and NFL seasons, and an active election cycle at the national and local levels. These events supported strong contributions from across the company, reflecting the focused strategy we are executing and the strength of our content and brands,” Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said. “These record results coupled with the strong momentum we are continuing to see across our business gives us confidence in delivering value for shareholders in a thoughtful and disciplined manner.”
While Fox has been comparatively slow to embrace streaming, as it still does not produce any streaming-exclusive content for its general entertainment platform Fox One. However, with its continued investment in Tubi and Fox Nation, coupled with its purchase of Roku, there is no doubt that the company is plotting its gradual, but eventual transition into streaming.
As one of the largest streaming platforms in the world, Roku provides invaluable digital real estate to Fox, not only for promoting its own streaming products, but for selling advertising as well. While the deal has not officially closed yet, it has cleared the majority of hurdles, meaning that once Roku is officially under the Fox umbrella, it would not be a surprise to see Fox continue to expand its streaming profits and ambitions.
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.”