FOX Q3 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

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Provided by Quartr
May 12, 2025
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Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to the Fox Corporation Third Quarter Fiscal Year twenty twenty five Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. Later, we will conduct a question and answer session. And I would like to emphasize that functionality for the question and answer queue will be given at that time.

Operator

As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I'll now turn the conference over to Chief Investor Relations Officer, Ms. Gabrielle Brown. Please go ahead, Brown.

Gabrielle Brown
Gabrielle Brown
Executive VP & Chief Investor Relations Officer at Fox

Thank you, Polly. Good morning, and welcome to our fiscal twenty twenty five third quarter earnings call. Joining me on the call today are Lachlan Murdoch, Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer John Nallen, Chief Operating Officer and Steve Tomczak, our Chief Financial Officer. First, Lachlan and Steve will give some prepared remarks on the most recent quarter, and then we'll take questions from the investment community. Please note that this call may include forward looking statements regarding Fox Corporation's financial performance and operating results.

Gabrielle Brown
Gabrielle Brown
Executive VP & Chief Investor Relations Officer at Fox

These statements are based on management's current expectations, and actual results could differ from what is stated as a result of certain factors identified on today's call and in the company's SEC filings. Additionally, this call will include certain non GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA or EBITDA as we refer to it on this call. Reconciliations of non GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings release and our SEC filings, which are available in the Investor Relations section of our website. And with that, I'm pleased to turn the call over to Lachlan.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Thank you, Gabby, and thank you all for joining us this morning. It's a particularly beautiful spring morning in New York this morning. I hope everyone's had a chance to enjoy it. Our fiscal third quarter underscored the central role Fox plays in informing and entertaining America, and our financial performance once again illustrates the strength of the Fox platform. Whether it be our market leading coverage, what has been a sustained active news cycle, or a record breaking broadcast of the Super Bowl, we delivered across the board milestones during the third quarter.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Total company advertising revenue grew 65% in the quarter, including the Super Bowl, which generated over 800,000,000 of gross advertising revenue across our businesses, a record for both our national broadcast network and our local TV stations. This year's matchup between Kansas City and Philadelphia delivered a 28,000,000 viewers across flat Fox platforms, making Super Bowl fifty nine the most watched telecast in US history. Our affiliate revenues also had a notable quarter with total revenue growth of 3% on the back of higher rates and improved subscriber declines for the third consecutive quarter. These robust results continue to build upon Fox's noteworthy first half and put us on track to complete a strong fiscal year. Notably, these third quarter results reflected the highest free cash flow in Fox's history.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

While we recognize the commentary around the macro environment, we have seen no impact to our business. Our ratings and engagement are strong. National advertising scatter pricing is outpacing last year's upfront rates with solid demand, and Tubi continues its top line momentum. We remain confident that our best in class assets, disciplined approach, and fortress like balance sheet will continue to set us apart. In fact, in just a few hours, we will host America's top advertisers at this year's upfront presentation here in New York.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

We approach this upfront cycle on uniquely strong footing, knowing that our focus on live sports and news programming, combined with Tubi's commanding position in the AVOD segment and our exceptional entertainment offering, will continue to offer rare value to our advertising partners. Nowhere is Fox's leadership more evident than Fox News, where once again, the Fox News channel finished the quarter as the most watched cable network. But even more remarkable is that during the quarter, Fox News was the second most watched network in Monday through Friday Prime in all of television, surpassing all but one broadcast network. This combination of an engaged audience and a dynamic news cycle led to record audience share in the quarter. Fox News Channel had one of the highest rated quarters in cable news history, growing total day audience 48% in total viewers and 58% in the demo and reaching our highest quarterly share of cable news audience ever.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

In fact, since the election, Fox News has delivered the top 1,013 cable news telecasts. This ratings and share momentum has carried into the current quarter with April total ratings up nearly 30%, prime time ratings up over 30%, and prime time cable news audience share in the 60% range. I should also highlight our digital consumption trends, which demonstrate our news content is resonating with an expanded audience beyond the linear world. Fox News digital grew page views 18% year on year to a record 11,000,000,000 views and closed the quarter with the highest number of YouTube views in its history. Engagement at Fox Sports is also unmatched in the industry, especially after a solid NFL postseason.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

For the twenty twenty four, twenty twenty five television season to date, Fox Sports ranks as the industry leader in live sports event viewership, accumulating three point three billion hours of sports event viewing, 17% better than our closest competitor. While the sports calendar in our fiscal fourth quarter trends tend to be quieter, we see strong audience and advertiser demand for our schedule, including NASCAR, the inaugural season of IndyCar and Fox, and the start of the baseball season. Turning to digital. Tobee delivered another outstanding quarter with revenue growth of 35% year on year. This marks an acceleration compared to the 31% growth we posted in the December, which is even more impressive when considering the last quarter benefited from political revenue.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

As you know, Tobee played an essential role in extending the reach of the Super Bowl, bringing in over 24,000,000 unique viewers on game day and 16,000,000 peak concurrent viewers during the game. Of those unique viewers, 40% were in the 18 to 34 demo, and half of those were female. Reciprocally, the Super Bowl provided a unique promotional opportunity for Tubi, which attracted over 8,000,000 new registered viewers. While engagement on the platform was certainly helped by the Super Bowl, retention and consumption trends at Tubi post the Super Bowl are also very encouraging, with total view time up 24% year over year in April. Tubi has established itself as a leading player in the streaming world, offering premium on demand entertainment and original content that is 100% free for consumers.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

We think this, combined with 2B's large, young and diverse, highly engaged audience of mostly cordless viewers, offers advertisers an unrivaled value proposition. Also well positioned for the upfront is Fox Entertainment, which had a strong broadcast season, levering the Super Bowl lead in to launch the third season of the floor. This, along with other top rated shows like Doc and Universal Basic Guys, helped propel Fox to the top spot in prime time season to date among adults eighteen to forty nine. As we as we wrap up another successful quarter, it is clear that Fox's differentiated and focused strategy continues to outperform. The reach of our brands and our compelling programming led to impressive annual consumption growth of 34% across the entire Fox portfolio during the third quarter.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

When it comes to live events and news, Fox's leadership has never been clearer. There's a lot to be excited about as we look ahead. The work of our dedicated team of journalists and staff at Fox News and at our local stations, across which we make substantial investments in news reporting nationally and locally, a compelling spring sports schedule, taking viewers from the racetrack to the ballpark, and the leverage, the elevated brand awareness of Tubi has to drive increased engagement in homes across America. We're also excited about our direct to consumer plans. Since the formation of Fox, we have created a unique platform of America's best known media brands across the key verticals of news, sports, and entertainment.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

These are the brands that resonate with our audiences and that advertisers value so highly. Whether it's the Super Bowl, the election cycle, or the upfront, our company is at its best when we work together as one. That key attribute is the basis of our upcoming D2C offering named Fox One, where targeted consumers, the cordless market outside of pay TV, can find all the Fox brands they love. Fox One is on track to launch before the football season this fall, and we look forward to sharing further details about the service in the coming months. With the brisk tailwinds from both our strong operating momentum and financial results, we will continue to focus on execution and remain committed to delivering long term value for our shareholders in a thoughtful and disciplined manner.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

And with that, I will turn the call over to the thoughtful and disciplined team to take you through the details

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

you, Lachlan. Good morning, everyone. As Lachlan said, Fox delivered another quarter of impressive results, highlighted by a 27% increase in total revenues and record free cash flow. Our advertising revenues increased 65% led by the combination of a record breaking Super Bowl, accelerating growth at Tubi and strong engagement and pricing at News. Total company affiliate fee revenues grew 3% over the prior year quarter, once again demonstrating the strength of our brands and focused portfolio of channels.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

Other revenues grew 20 year over year, driven by higher sports sub licensing revenues at our Cable segment. Similar to prior quarters, this growth in revenue was largely offset by a corresponding increase in rights cost with no material impact on year over year overall EBITDA growth. Quarterly adjusted EBITDA was $856,000,000 as compared to the $891,000,000 reported in the prior year quarter, as these revenue increases were offset by higher expenses. This was primarily due to higher sports rights amortization and production costs associated with our broadcast of the Super Bowl. Net income attributable to Fox stockholders was $346,000,000 or $0.75 per share as compared to the $666,000,000 or 1.4 per share reported in the prior year period.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

Excluding non core items, adjusted net income was $5.00 $7,000,000 and adjusted EPS was $1.1 up slightly compared to the $1.9 per share recorded in the prior year. Now turning to our operating segments, starting with the Cable Network Programming segment, which delivered 11% revenue growth and 7% EBITDA growth. Cable advertising revenues grew 26% over the prior year, driven by the strength in Fox News linear ratings and digital engagement and supported by healthy national and direct response pricing. Cable affiliate fee revenues grew 3% over the prior year quarter as pricing gains from our affiliate renewals outpaced the impact from net subscriber declines, which continued to improve to under 7%. Cable other revenues grew 79% due to the higher sports sublicensing revenues I mentioned earlier.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

Revenue growth of the Cable segment was partially offset by a 16% increase in expenses, primarily attributable to an increase in sports rights amortization and production costs, including amortization corresponding to the incremental sports sub licensing revenues. Turning to our television segment, which delivered 40% revenue growth. Advertising revenues at our television segment grew 77% over the prior year led by Super Bowl fifty nine, which generated over $800,000,000 in gross revenues. If we exclude the tremendous revenue contribution from the Super Bowl, we still saw solid underlying growth in our TV segment advertising revenues led by accelerating growth at Tubi. Television affiliate fee revenues increased 4% in the quarter with healthy growth in fees across both Fox owned and affiliated stations more than offset the impact from industry subscriber declines.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

Television other revenues were up 3% year over year, primarily due to higher content revenues tied to our entertainment production studios. Expenses at the television segment increased 47%, driven by our broadcaster Super Bowl fifty nine as well as continued investment at Tubi. All in, EBITDA at our television segment was $60,000,000 as compared to the $145,000,000 reported in the prior year quarter. Turning to cash flow, where we generated record quarterly free cash flow of over $1,900,000,000 This strong quarterly free cash flow delivery is consistent with the seasonality of our working capital cycle, where the first half of our fiscal year reflects the concentration of payments for sports rights and buildup of advertising related receivables, both of which reversed in the second half of our fiscal year. In terms of capital allocation, fiscal year to date, we have repurchased an additional $800,000,000 through our share buyback program.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

This brings the total cumulative amount repurchased to $6,400,000,000 or approximately 30% of our total shares outstanding since the launch of the buyback program in 2019. We remain committed to utilizing our full buyback authorization of $7,000,000,000 This is supported by the strength of our balance sheet, where we ended the quarter with approximately $4,800,000,000 in cash and $7,200,000,000 in debt. And since quarter end, we repaid our $600,000,000 debt maturity, which came due in April. And with that, I'll turn the call back over to Gabby.

Gabrielle Brown
Gabrielle Brown
Executive VP & Chief Investor Relations Officer at Fox

Thanks, Steve. And now we would be happy to take questions from the investment community.

Operator

Thanks, Gabby. Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to emphasize the new functionality for the question and answer queue. If you wish to ask a question, please press star then one on your touch tone keypad. You will hear a tone indicating you have been placed in queue. You may remove yourself from queue at any time by once again pressing star then one.

Operator

You. And we have a question from Michael Morris at Guggenheim. Please go ahead.

Michael Morris
Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners

Thank you. Good morning. I wanted to ask about FOX one. I know you said details will follow, but love to try to get some details on your view of pricing of the product, the addressable market and whether you expect to take on any partnerships or bundle or things like that. And if I could squeeze in one more, I know it's a little early, but Steve, could you give us any thoughts on looking into fiscal twenty twenty six and how we should think about any of the puts and takes after the strong fiscal twenty twenty five to date?

Michael Morris
Senior Managing Director at Guggenheim Partners

Thank you.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Thanks, Mike. So I'll answer the FOX one questions. And I can't give you a great amount of detail, but we'll be rolling these things out, obviously, as we get closer to the fall and to the start of the football season, which we will be launching beforehand. The the pricing will be in line with our wholesale well, with our wholesale pricing. So we think that's the appropriate level at the most fair to our our distributors.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

So the pricing will be will be healthy. It will not be a discounted price. And very much as targeted to the which goes to your addressable market question, we're targeting the service entirely to the the cordless community, the cordless market out there. It would be a failure of us if if we attract, more, connected, subscribers or who are we don't we do not wanna lose a traditional cable subscriber, to Fox one, and we're doing everything we can to to, make sure as much as is humanly possible that that's that's the way we market, and that's the way we we plan, the business. But, yes, we will be entering partnerships, with other distributors and and and services to offer Fox one as you see other other streaming services do.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

So we we will be working with with partners to to to gain as broader possible distribution within the within the the the focus of that cordless viewer. Steve?

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

Yeah. Thanks, Lachlan. Hi, Mike. So if I look at fiscal twenty six versus fiscal twenty five, obviously, you look at sort of the big sort of seasonal cyclical drivers of our business. So the big one from a sort of net margin perspective for us this year is political, which obviously is not there in an off year next year.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

But then sort of Super Bowl from a purely advertising revenue versus rights cost perspective was a deficit for us this year. That's not there in fiscal 'twenty six. But then we have FIFA coming through in the very, very back end, which cross over fiscal 'twenty six versus fiscal 'twenty seven. Against all of that, we've got really, really nice tailwinds with our advertising business, particularly both at Fox News and Tubi. And then we're also continuing to see solid tailwinds with our affiliate revenue growth.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

And so I think some of the swing factor with fiscal twenty six, which is probably a little bit too early to call, is the extent to which we moderate the investment into the versus the B2C investment, particularly that launch cost investment going into the early part of next fiscal year. So hopefully, that gives you a few breadcrumbs.

Gabrielle Brown
Gabrielle Brown
Executive VP & Chief Investor Relations Officer at Fox

Operator, can we go to the next question, please?

Operator

We have a question from John Hodulik from UBS. Please go ahead. Great. Thank you.

John Hodulik
John Hodulik
Telecom and Cable Analyst at UBS Group

In the past you guys have talked about increasing demand from brand advertisers on Fox News. Could you update us on that? Are you seeing any sort of quantifiable shift from Doctor to brand advertising? And I know it's sold differently, but can you comment on the sort of difference in sort of price between what you're getting from Doctor and what you're getting from brand advertising? Thanks.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Thanks, John. So I think we're now up to over 200 new, advertisers, since the election. I think when Steve left the cat out the bag, it was over a hundred, a hundred and hundred something, but but that's grown to over 200 new advertisers. And I think the the really positive and an important data point to to to know here is that they are continuing to advertise. So this is this is not a knee jerk or one off reaction, to the election, but these advertisers have, you know, found our audience.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

The the the creative work and the, the positioning is is working for them, and they're sticking, on our air and continuing to advertise. So we see that as a as a very positive, sort of of recognition of the the power of Fox News, the power of our ratings and and programming, and that it's working for these new 200 advertisers, and they're sticking, sticking with us. In terms of, direct response, so I don't think this directly answers your your question. I I don't I don't wanna give specific sort of pricing out. But just so you know, direct response during the quarter, on Fox News was up over, 30% direct response.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

And our scatter pricing was up over 50%, of up upfront pricing. So the the momentum that we're seeing, within Fox News, obviously, driven first by, really sort of record setting, audience and and share. That's flowing through nicely to the revenue line and that momentum seems to be continuing. Great.

Gabrielle Brown
Gabrielle Brown
Executive VP & Chief Investor Relations Officer at Fox

Next question please.

Operator

We have a question from Jessica Reif Ehrlich of Bank of America. Please go ahead.

Jessica Reif Ehrlich
Managing Director at Bank of America Securities

Thank you. Like, well, couple of things. One, all parts of your business have pretty much surprised on the upside over, I don't know, a while, but maybe nothing more surprising than to be. Can you talk about the path to profitability and the drivers, whether it's programmatic and fill rates or content like what you're doing or what your plans are? And then the balance sheet is just so strong.

Jessica Reif Ehrlich
Managing Director at Bank of America Securities

So clearly, you have lots of options. Can you give us some color on how you're thinking about that?

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Sure. Jessica, I'll start and then hand over to Steve for the second part of the question. So no, thank you for acknowledging the strength of of of Tubi and and and the continued growth in Tubi. It's certainly not a surprise to us. We've had a great faith in this business and and and in this management over the long term.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

And we believe not only has it had a great track record to date, but we'll continue to have a great great prospects and has huge opportunity going into the into the future. The growth in this quarter was, you know, fundamentally in Tubi, like like any free media service. It comes back to engagement. And and and Tubi grew 18% in total viewing time during the quarter, but this flowed through to a 35% revenue improvement in the quarter. So directly from TBT, then you run into your, obviously, your pricing and your on your fill rates, but this translate in a 35% revenue, improvement in the quarter.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

I think it's important to know, and without Gabby kicking me on the table, in April, that that rate has accelerated in April. And so we are we are, you know, really pleased as we see the progress of Tubi. But there's a solid advertising base where people continue to continue to, advertise on the platform, and it's a very healthy, both direct response and partner, revenue streams. Tubi really is becoming a mainstream service across America. That's the what we've seen the difference over the last, you know, year or two is Tubi becoming something that's a very, very good business that serves 65% of its audience.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

It's hard to reach cord less the cord less audience, but it's more and more becoming something that that mainstream everyday Americans are using as their free, entertainment, service. And what what the the the only frustrating, part about the business is that we don't get the appropriate evaluation, within our stock. We think it's a tremendously valid valuable business, and we're looking forward to outperforming with to be for years to come. Steve?

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

Yeah. Thanks, Jessica, and thanks for noticing the balance sheet. So, yes, we're at $4,800,000,000 of cash. The debt position is comfortable. And listen, that's only going to improve through the back half of the year because Q4 is typically a strong free cash flow quarter for us.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

So, obviously, as we think about usage of that capital, obviously, we look at that on a balanced basis across buybacks and kind of running out of what our authorization. So you should expect that to be topped up as part of normal course board business over the course of the remainder of the year. And then if we look at it sort of the other options with respect to that capital, we've obviously invested organically in the business and to the which Lachlan just described has been a key beneficiary of that investment over the last couple of years and that has paid dividends for us. We'll continue to do that and I guess the next cap off the rank there will be our Fox One venture. And then we look at everything from a nonorganic basis, but the bar is incredibly high.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

And so ultimately, we'll deploy capital where it's best for the shareholders.

Gabrielle Brown
Gabrielle Brown
Executive VP & Chief Investor Relations Officer at Fox

Next question, please.

Operator

We have a question from Ben Swinburne, Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Benjamin Swinburne
Benjamin Swinburne
Head of U.S Media Research at Morgan Stanley

Thanks. Good morning everyone. Everyone's doing well. I wanted to ask about your strategy around direct to consumer and sort of the broader affiliate revenue growth of the company. You guys are growing nicely even with cord cutting, which is not true for your competitors.

Benjamin Swinburne
Benjamin Swinburne
Head of U.S Media Research at Morgan Stanley

And a lot of them have gone down this path that you talked about, Lachlan, of sort of bundling the streaming service in with their linear networks. And while it's hard to tell from outside, in some cases, looks like one plus one is less than two for for those competitors. And I'm just wondering how you're thinking about what you can get out of launching d to c versus any risk you see in your MVPD relationships because you're now gonna be essentially competing with your networks, through those bundles. And and just to finish up the risk conversation, there's been some FCC noise around capping reverse retrans, and I I would love to hear your thoughts on that if you see that

Benjamin Swinburne
Benjamin Swinburne
Head of U.S Media Research at Morgan Stanley

as a real risk. Thanks so much.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Thanks, Ben. So first on on d two c and how we view that with, and how the balance is with our affiliate relationships and, you know, obviously ongoing know, growth in the affiliate revenue line, for us. So, you know, I I should start with saying, we remain, incredibly, supportive of and positive about our, the traditional, cable bundle and the traditional, cable distribution. And and as that applies to both our our our our cable, channels and and also, our sort of broadcaster affiliate, stations. So so we we will continue to support, in every way possible, the traditional model.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

It's, it serves really the the whole industry, very well. It served us very well, and we will not be engaging in in sort of activities or strategies that undermine or the purpose that undermine, the traditional distribution models. Having said that, we think that d two c is time for us to launch a d two c service. It's time for us to target that service, specifically the cord, Nevers. You know, going back to Jessica's question before when I mentioned that 65% of two the Tubi audience is cord Nevers, that's that's remarkably high.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

And I I I failed to mention that that is actually higher for Tubi than anyone in our competitive set. So 65% of our audience being cord and users being cord Nevers, that's higher than Roku. It's higher than Pluto. It's higher than Freebie, Max, Paramount Plus, or Peacock. And that shows us two things.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

It shows us why to be so valuable to advertisers who need the reach who can't get to that audience without us. But it also shows a a growing expertise in the company about how we focus on this core on this cordless, on this cordless segment. And so we're gonna really take a lot of the learnings we have from to be to focus our our d two c strategy, away from people who who might be churning, out of the, the cable universe. You know, we do see this is, you know, part of the the the ecosystem that we're talking about. Obviously, the emergence of the skinny bundles, we think are positive for Fox.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

The fact that our broadcast, our news, and our sport are in all of these skinny, core bundles, we think is very positive. It's too early yet to see the impact of the skinny bundles, but, but but we are very optimistic about them. And even though, you know, we've had a few quarters now of declining sub, erosion, in the in the market, it's too early to see how much of that is working the market getting towards a a base level of subscribers or whether it's the impact of skinny bundles. But I'd remind you that in the fourth quarter of twenty four, the sub declines are about 8.7%. They then went in the first quarter of twenty five to 7.8%.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

In the second quarter, 7.2, and now minus 6.5. So continuing decline in in sub erosion, which we see is is a very healthy, trend. And in terms of the FCC, we can't speculate on, on what the FCC, is going to do, but we certainly see the the affiliate network, relationship, as a healthy one. It's always a negotiation that's left to the market, and when we think it's it's it's it's best left to the market. We also do do note that our affiliate agreements are unique, and our network is unique in one very important way.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Because we broadcast the fewest amount of network hours of any of the the the the national networks, that leaves our stations to really be be able to invest in their own programming, particularly in local news, which we think is is critically important to the health of both the local news, broadcast, industry local broadcast industry, and also to the local communities that they serve.

Gabrielle Brown
Gabrielle Brown
Executive VP & Chief Investor Relations Officer at Fox

Great. Next question, please, operator.

Operator

We have a question from Steven Cahill from Wells Fargo. Please go ahead.

Steven Cahall
Steven Cahall
Managing Director, Senior Analyst - Media, Advertising & Cable at Wells Fargo Securities

Thanks. So Chris, on Fox One, I think that's a pull forward in timing. If I recall, it was going to be year end and now it's before the football season. So, I think is is that right? And congrats on that.

Steven Cahall
Steven Cahall
Managing Director, Senior Analyst - Media, Advertising & Cable at Wells Fargo Securities

And how are you thinking about bundling opportunities with FoxOne? You know, I just think about cord cutters and cord nevers are probably looking for some integrated subscription options, some integrated viewing experiences that go across sports and across the NFL. So just curious how you're thinking about partnering opportunities on Fox One. And then, Steve, maybe just following up on Jessica's question, could you talk about the timeline for the FanDuel licensing that you need to go through? And is it correct for us to assume that as soon as you're able to exercise that, it's in your interest because the option only gets higher over time?

Steven Cahall
Steven Cahall
Managing Director, Senior Analyst - Media, Advertising & Cable at Wells Fargo Securities

Or are you still balancing the exercise of that option with other capital allocation opportunities and priorities? Thanks.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Thanks, Steve. So first with Fox One, I think we might have originally you might be right or you might be half right in that. I think we might have originally sent in the the year, but I think we did say, after that, that we it would be, available for the the, the football season. So I think we have said that before. So once again, we're we're not breaking any news on this on this call except for the name.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

The the name's the name's breaking news. So so it's not it's it's it's an aggressive timeline. You're you're you're correct to to launch a service, but we've been we've been planning this for a long time. We've had the technology in place for a long time. Obviously, we benefit from a lot of the work done around, the venue, the the venue service, which didn't go forward.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

So so we feel confident in reaching that time frame. Of course, being up before the, the football season, is is a is a critical, date for us. But but we are are are very confident moving forward that we're gonna make that date. And we'll go announce a specific, day in the in the in the weeks or or months, ahead. We will be bundling, with a number of other services.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

I I wouldn't wanna announce that, prematurely on this call. But, but, obviously, with a service as as valuable as Fox, a a lot of other streaming services have approached us about bundling, and we will be we'll be moving forward with with with a number of those relationships. Fox one will also be available to every traditional subscriber of of our services. We don't wanna compete with our distributors. That's that's not our intent.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

So if you're already paying for the Fox services through your cable subscription, you'll be able to download and and receive a Fox one as well.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

Faith, just to pick up on the on the FanDuel option, just just to level set there. So we've got until the February to exercise our option over 18.6% of of that business. We're so it's a state by state licensing regime, and so we're actively in discussions with each of the 26 states that we need to get licensed with. As you would know, there's an incredible amount of value locked in that option. So if I just look at where the streets are in terms of the in the money, so so that sort of the value of the 18.6 versus the strike price is worth about $2,800,000,000 to us in intrinsic value.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

And so it's absolutely in our interest to get licensed and we will get licensed over the coming years. But I think when you look at the sort of the accretion in the strike price of about 5% a year, that's not a driving factor in terms of our decision on when to deploy capital towards that. It's really about sort of getting through the licensing regime and then we hit go.

Gabrielle Brown
Gabrielle Brown
Executive VP & Chief Investor Relations Officer at Fox

Operator, we have time for one more question.

Operator

We have a question from Michael Ng from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Michael Ng
Michael Ng
Managing Director - Global Investment Research at Goldman Sachs

Hey, good morning. Thank you very much for the question. I was just wondering if you could give us an update on the digital investments. I think last quarter it was a high $200,000,000 Obviously, with the outperformance of 2B to date as well as greater clarity into the timing of launch of FOX-one, I was wondering if you could just talk about that for this year and perhaps into next again. And then secondly, there have been reports of plans for Disney to vacate the Fox Lot in Century City.

Michael Ng
Michael Ng
Managing Director - Global Investment Research at Goldman Sachs

I was just wondering if you had any future plans there that you could discuss or options that you may have. Thank you.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Thanks, Mike. So on the digital investment, and Steve can give more detail. But, you know, Tubi Tubi, continues to improve financially. We are continuing to invest in Tubi, however, and we'll continue to do that, really as we see fit that sort of suits the the the business. We think we're built on an incredibly valuable, business in Tubi.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

And so we don't want to, create kind of a false, hurdle for us in terms of profitability, but it's it's sooner rather than later. And Tubi, as you know, has now reached, beyond a billion dollars, in revenue for the trailing, twelve months. So the the business is on, absolutely the right trajectory, but we'll continue to invest in it for the, for the near to medium term future. Obviously, though, as that as that as that, business reaches profitability, we continue to invest organically in in the future of our businesses. And so the overall, investment in in digital properties remains broadly, in line.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Steve can give you more detail on that, but just let me quickly answer the the Disney, Fox lot question. So, you know, obviously, the sound stages are are are in very high demand, and and we'll continue to work with with Disney and and others just to see them effectively, booked out. What Disney has, announced they will, or indicated to us that they they will vacate is their office space, on the lot that is not connected to production. And that that represents, like, less than a third of the office space, on on the Fox lot. It's highly valuable, real estate, probably valuable, real estate, in, you know, the center cities of the Santa Monica region of, of Los Angeles, and we think we'll have no problem, in filling it.

Lachlan Murdoch
Lachlan Murdoch
Executive Chairman & CEO at Fox

Steve, do wanna add anything?

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

Yes. So, Mike, just on just on digital investment, I think in fiscal twenty four, we're in the mid threes. We'd expect that to come come down for fiscal twenty twenty five. To be included in our numbers this quarter was a bit of a surge into the investment spend. It obviously had the Super Bowl and marketed heavily around that and really went really use that as a as a sort of marketing piece as well as a user acquisition piece, but you should expect to see that come back a bit in the final quarter and see our overall digital sort of growth investment envelope shrink over the when you look at full year versus full year.

Steve Tomsic
Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at Fox

And it's probably a bit premature to talk about where we land in fiscal twenty six. I definitely think to as Lochma mentioned to continue to improve and then it's a question of how we start the FOX nine investment.

Gabrielle Brown
Gabrielle Brown
Executive VP & Chief Investor Relations Officer at Fox

Great. At this point, we're out of time. But if you have any further questions, please give me or Charlie Costanzo a call. Thanks once again for joining us today.

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the FOX Corporation third quarter fiscal year twenty twenty five earnings conference call. Thank you.

Executives
Analysts
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Key Takeaways

  • Advertising revenue grew 65% in Q3, driven by a record‐breaking Super Bowl that generated over $800 million in gross ad revenue, helping deliver the company’s highest-ever quarterly free cash flow of $1.9 billion.
  • Fox News finished the quarter as the most-watched cable network, with total-day audience up 48% and prime-time audience up 58%, while digital page views rose 18% to a record 11 billion.
  • Tubi posted 35% year-over-year revenue growth, fueled by an 18% increase in viewing time, 24 million unique Super Bowl viewers, and a 24% lift in April view time, underscoring its appeal to the cord-never segment.
  • Affiliate fee revenue increased 3% as higher rates and improving subscriber declines aligned for a third straight quarter, demonstrating the strength of Fox’s network distribution.
  • Fox One, a direct-to-consumer service targeting cordless viewers, is set to launch before the fall football season at wholesale pricing and via distribution partnerships to complement traditional MVPD relationships.
AI Generated. May Contain Errors.
Earnings Conference Call
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