Fox Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue on Tuesday, and announced that Fox News Chief Executive Officer Suzanne Scott has extended her term with the company.
Fox benefited from an uptick in advertising spending during the U.S. presidential election and strong digital growth at Fox News. Its revenue was also buoyed by higher affiliate fees and an influx of advertisers to its Tubi streaming service.
Fox News – the biggest driver of the company’s performance – had its highest-rated November in history, drawing 3.9 million prime-time viewers, beating all cable networks, not just cable news, according to Nielsen data.
It ended January with a 19-year streak as the top U.S. cable news network, but ceded ground to AT&T Inc-owned CNN, which had record ratings as the top cable news network that month, according to Nielsen.
“We believe where we’re targeted, to the center right, is exactly where we should be targeted,” said Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch on the call. “We don’t believe America is further right, and we’re obviously not going to pivot left.”
Fox has played to its ratings strengths by adding another hour of opinion programming at 7 p.m., among other post-U.S. election changes.
Fox’s focus on live news and sports sets it apart from other media companies that require huge content libraries to fuel their streaming services. Its sports rights include NFL (Sunday and Thursday), MLB and college football, among others, with NFL rights expiring after the 2022 season.
Fox is diversifying its business beyond cable TV – and helping offset the impact of cord-cutting – with the expansion of its Fox News International streaming service and the forthcoming Fox Weather, a new advertising-supported streaming service and the company’s eighth platform.
Total revenue rose to $4.09 billion in the second quarter ended Dec. 31 from $3.78 billion, above Wall Street estimates of $3.99 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Excluding items, the company earned 16 cents per share, while analysts’ expected a loss of 3 cents per share.
In the fiscal second quarter, affiliate revenue grew 5.7% to $1.52 billion.
Shares fell 0.6% in early trading on Tuesday.
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