Fox Corp. said it swung to a $50 million loss last quarter from a $290 million profit the year before mostly due to mainly to expenses relating to ligitation with Dominion Voting Services.
The company reached a legal settlement with Dominion in April for nearly $800 illion.
In the company’s March quarter, it booked an $850 million charge, “reflecting all incurred and estimable costs at this time.”
Sales jumped a rather remarkable 18% last quarter to $4.08 billion as advertising revenues rose 43%, reflecting the impact of Super Bowl LVII, a higher volume of NFL games and continued growth at Tubi. Affiliate fee revenues increased 3% with 9%.
Adjusted net income was $494 million (or $0.94 per share), up about 8% from $459 million ($0.81 per share) the year earlier.
“Our fiscal third quarter once again demonstrated the effectiveness of Fox’s strategy to leverage the power of compelling live events to deliver for our viewers, advertisers, and distributors at scale,” said CEO Lachlan Murdoch.
“During the quarter, the largest audience in U.S. television history gathered to watch FOX Sports’ broadcast of Super Bowl LVII, underpinning our delivery of double-digit revenue growth, and providing a promotional gateway to Fox’s entertainment and news brands.”
“Against a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty, our portfolio of leadership brands combined with our balance sheet strength position us well to allow us to focus on creating shareholder value for the long term.”
Murdoch will hop on a call with financial analysts shortly.
It’s been a tumultuous spring for the Fox. In April, the company agreed pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to settle a defamation lawsuit just before it was set to start in Delaware Court. Rupert Murdoch, Fox executives and hosts would have been called to testify on Fox 2020 election claims on Fox News. A Fox statement acknowledged “the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false.”
Soon after, Tucker Carlson, host of Fox News’ top-rated Tucker Carlson Tonight was shown the door, leaving the ratings challenged.
There’s also a WGA strike, although analysts say Fox may be relatively less impacted than other legacy media companies given that it leans more into unscripted content. The strike now in its second week hit just ahead of upfront presentations is impacting the fall television season. Picket lines on both coasts have paused production on a various shows.
Television reported quarterly segment revenues of $2.48 billion, an increase of $655 million or 36% Advertising revenues increased $590 million or 61%, primarily due to the broadcast of Super Bowl LVII
and a higher volume of NFL games at Fox Sports, as well as continued growth at Tubi. Affiliate fee revenues increased $64 million or 9% led by higher rates at both the company’s owned and operated stations and third-party Fox affiliates. Ebtida (a kind of operating profit) in television rose by $82 million from $117 million.
Cable Network Programming saw revenue pretty flat at $1.57 billion vs $1.58 billion. Affiliate fee revenues was unchanged as the impact of net subscriber declines was nearly offset by contractual price increases. Advertising sales of $316 million dipped from $339 million in the prior year. Other revenues, mostly Fox Nation subscriptions rose 10%.
Cable operating profit eased to $792 million compared to $864 million in the prior year quarter as expenses increased due to higher legal costs at Fox News Media, and higher costs associated with the second season of the USFL and the broadcast of the World Baseball Classic at Fox Sports.
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