21st Century Fox TV Rev Up 5.4% To $1B

21st Century Fox on Wednesday reported second quarter (its fiscal fourth quarter) Television Segment revenues totaled $1.0 billion, up 5.4% from $987 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Television generated quarterly segment OIBDA of $144 million, a 27% increase over the $113 million reported in the prior year quarter. Quarterly segment revenues were 5% higher than the prior year quarter as higher retransmission consent revenues and a 9% increase in Fox Broadcast Network entertainment advertising revenues were partially offset by lower sports advertising revenues reflecting the absence of the prior year broadcast of the FIFA Women’s World Cup.

The company said the increase in segment OIBDA was driven by the higher revenues partially offset by higher entertainment programming and marketing costs at the Fox Broadcast Network. 

Cable Network Programming quarterly revenue totaled $3.9 billion, a 9.8% boost from the year-ago $3.6 billion. Cable Network Programming quarterly segment OIBDA contribution of $1.21 billion was consistent with the amount reported in the corresponding period of the prior year as a 10% revenue increase on higher affiliate, advertising and content revenues was offset by a 15% increase in expenses.

The increase in expenses was primarily due to higher sports programming costs driven by soccer rights costs at FNG International and Major League Baseball and streaming rights costs at the RSNs, higher entertainment programming costs at FNG International, higher marketing and digital costs at STAR India and higher political coverage costs at Fox News.

The Cable Network Programming segment fourth quarter results also included revenue of $71 million and costs of $98 million related to the inclusion of results from the recently acquired National Geographic non-channels businesses. Foreign exchange fluctuations, primarily in Latin America and India, adversely impacted segment OIBDA growth by 3%.

The company as a whole reported quarterly revenues of $6.65 billion, a $441 million, or 7%, increase from the $6.21 billion of revenues reported in the prior year quarter. This increase primarily reflects higher affiliate and advertising revenues generated at our Cable Network Programming and Television segments and higher content revenues generated at the Filmed Entertainment segment.

The adverse impact of foreign exchange rates impacted quarterly revenue growth by $116 million, or 2% in total.  

Quarterly total segment OIBDA of $1.45 billion declined by $93 million from the $1.54 billion reported in the prior year quarter. This decrease was due to expected lower contributions from the Filmed Entertainment segment partially offset by higher contributions at the Television segment. The adverse impact of foreign exchange rates impacted quarterly OIBDA growth by $53 million, or 3% in total.

Commenting on the results, Executive Chairmen Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch said: “We delivered full-year revenue and earnings growth on the strength of gains in affiliate and advertising revenues despite considerable foreign exchange headwinds and difficult film comparisons. The value created by our multi-year investment in our content production and our global video brands is clear.

“Our brands are an indispensable part of any consumer offering, whether from a traditional distributor or a new entrant like Hulu’s upcoming live and on-demand service, which will benefit greatly from Time Warner’s investment and participation.The work we did this year bolsters our strong position in a world of growing demand and access to the premium content that consistently sets us apart.”