Fox sees you, ESPN. That was the message from Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, who spoke with Wall Street analysts this week to discuss his company’s second-quarter earnings report. During the call, Murdoch was asked about ESPN’s goal of launching a streaming version of its channels that doesn’t require a cable or satellite subscription in the coming years.
Murdoch left room for speculation that Fox could create a streaming offering of its sports channels FS1, FS2 and others. He said that ESPN and Fox Sports face similar challenges, and that their strategies for coping with the future could also be similar.
“[Fox Sports’ path] is fundamentally very similar to ESPN’s, so we face the same strategic priorities as they do and are probably looking at similar paths forward as we go forward with our portfolio,” Murdoch explained. “As consumer demands and tastes change, we will endeavor to put our content and our brands in front of consumers in which whatever manner makes the most sense for them — provided it remains behind a paywall and we get full value for those rights and those brands.”
Cord cutting has affected all of the top cable sports channels, as both ESPN and FS1 have lost more than 2.5 million customers since the start of 2023 alone. But Murdoch still sees his linear customers as an important, profit-driving part of the business, and won’t abandon TV for streaming on a whim.
“We don’t envision a moment when you leave pay-TV and quickly transition to a direct-to-consumer universe,” he said. “We think you will enter a phase where both are important.”
Disney and Fox are essentially saying the same thing, though Murdoch took a different tone regarding the current state of pay TV than Disney CEO Bob Iger did last month. Murdoch said that linear TV may not be a part of Disney’s core business any longer, and opened the door for its broadcast and cable channels ABC, Disney Channel, Freeform, FX and others to be sold.
But Disney has already shifted quite a bit of its focus to streaming, with two subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) platforms in Disney+ and Hulu. Fox has mainly continued to keep its efforts focused on linear TV, and its SVOD service Fox Nation is mostly a repository for lifestyle and conservative political content.
Fox Sports currently holds the rights to live NFL games, a large package of MLB games, college athletics from the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 (for now), the FIFA World Cup and much more. Its leaders are aware that a transition to streaming may be necessary in the future, but for now expect the channels to continue calling linear television home.
Fox Nation
Fox Nation is an entertainment streaming service created by Fox News and gives subscribers access to full, commercial-free episodes from well-known right-wing personalities like Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, as well entertainment from Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammer, Sharon Osbourne, Roseanne Barr, and Rob Schneider. Fox Nation service can be accessed as a standalone streamer or as an add-on to the live TV streaming services DIRECTV STREAM and Fubo. Start streaming today with a 60-day free trial.