Fox advertising, streaming service Tubi get boost from World Cup

Fox Corp.’s quarterly financial report got a big kick from the FIFA World Cup.

The company said Thursday that the tournament that took place in North America this summer lifted advertising revenue across the company and drove growth for its free streaming service, Tubi.

Overall revenue was up 28% to $4.21 billion compared with the same period last year. Advertising revenue shot up 78% to $1.92 billion largely due to the World Cup and Tubi. Fox reported its fiscal fourth-quarter and annual earnings on Thursday.

Fox’s broadcast and streaming of the tournament averaged roughly 7.7 million viewers across 104 matches, with the final match between Spain and Argentina drawing a record of nearly 39 million viewers for Fox’s platforms, according to Nielsen. NBCUniversal‘s Telemundo and Peacock, which aired the Spanish-language broadcast of the games, also reaped strong viewership and ad dollars.

Live sports have continued to lift media companies across the board due to the large audiences that games tend to attract. Major sporting events, like the World Cup, Super Bowl and playoff series, tend to bring in the most ad revenue. This week, Disney said during its earnings call that it had already sold out of ad inventory ahead of the next Super Bowl in February.

Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch on Thursday’s earnings call with investors said the company’s fiscal year was one of “record financial performance.”

“These are excellent results made even more impressive by the comparison to the especially strong prior year which benefitted from the Super Bowl and presidential election,” he said Thursday.

Advertising has emerged once again as a critical component to driving revenue and profitability. Traditional pay TV subscriber losses have led to declines in distribution revenue, and subscriber additions have stagnated for many streaming services as consumers have turned to other options.

For Fox, which has a portfolio of TV networks weighted toward sports and news, advertising revenue has been consistent. The company sold its entertainment assets to Disney in 2019.

Murdoch said on Thursday that Fox had one of its “strongest Upfront in our history with double digit growth in volume. “Upfronts” are the annual slate of content pitches to advertisers.

In June, Fox announced its proposed acquisition of Roku for $22 billion, potentially expanding its footprint in advertising. The company known for its streaming devices also has The Roku Channel, a competitor to Tubi.

Fox didn’t enter the traditional subscription streaming game until last year, well behind its peers. Up until then, the company had focused on building out Tubi, which is solely reliant on advertising and has been growing its base of younger viewers — a key demographic for advertisers.

Fox has picked specific moments and sports to include on Tubi, including the Super Bowl in recent years. Some games and shoulder programming from the World Cup helped boost the platform, Murdoch said in Thursday’s call.

“Tubi’s World Cup hub attracted over 20 million viewers across the tournament, while additionally the final cast of two early round matches generated two of the highest traffic days in the platform’s history,” Murdoch said.

Fox One, which launched nearly a year ago and includes all of Fox’s content, also benefitted from the World Cup.

Murdoch said distribution revenue for the quarter increased 5%, due in part by Fox One, “which continues to exceed our expectations.” He noted that the World Cup drove new customers to the service and led to strong retention rates.

Fox’s leadership said when the service launched that it was not intended to cause further pay TV losses, as streaming alternatives have largely done for media companies. Fox One is priced at $19.99 a month, although it is also available in a bundle with Disney’s ESPN direct to consumer streaming platform.

On Thursday, Murdoch said Fox continues “to see minimal cannibalization of our traditional pay TV business” due to Fox One and would continue to explore bundling opportunities. He also noted that Fox One subscribers “are truly incremental.”