Tuesday, November 5, 2024

Political Advertising Surge Drives Fox Corp. Earnings

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Strong political advertising drove Fox Corp. to a big quarter, with ad revenue surging and profits more than doubling compared to a year ago.

Fox reported revenues of $3.56 billion, up 11 percent from a year earlier, including advertising revenues of more than $1.3 billion, also up 11 percent. Meanwhile, net income was $832 million, more than double the profits a year ago of $415 million. That gain however was skewed by the value of Fox’s option in sports betting platform FanDuel.

The company typically sees the biggest political advertising gains in its broadcast segment, which includes both the Fox broadcast network and the Fox local TV stations. On the company’s earnings call, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said that political ad revenue set a company record.

In the company’s television segment, which includes the Fox broadcast network and the streaming service Tubi, revenues were $1.95 billion, thanks to the surge in political advertising, as well as NFL and soccer coverage at Fox Sports.

“From a revenue perspective, it’s the local stations that are our election heroes, but it’s not just our stations that are benefiting from strong political spend,” Murdoch said. “This cycle, we have seen Tubi become a material recipient of political advertising to these large but hard to reach audiences, coupled with its with its advanced targeting and geotargeting capabilities, have clearly differentiated Tubi as campaigns look to maximize reach and efficiency.”

In the cable segment, driven by Fox News, revenues were $1.6 billion, thanks to rate increases and higher ratings.

“Fiscal 2025 is off to a solid start across our portfolio with strong audience growth at Fox News, record political advertising across the company, accelerating revenue growth at Tubi and a compelling start to our fall sports calendar,” Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in a statement. “Collectively these contributions have combined to deliver particularly strong financial results in our fiscal first quarter led by notable top line revenue and earnings growth. Our strategy and our focus are delivering for our audiences, advertising and distribution partners, and the Fox shareholders.”

More to come.

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