Fox Corp. will launch its direct-to-consumer streaming service, Fox One, on Aug. 21, forward of the NFL season, the corporate stated Tuesday.
The brand new streaming service will value $19.99 monthly, and pay TV subscribers will obtain entry without spending a dime, stated CEO Lachlan Murdoch throughout the firm’s earnings name.
Fox One will host everything of the Fox TV portfolio — particularly, stay sports activities reminiscent of NFL and MLB that seem on its broadcast community, in addition to information programming from its Fox Information and Fox Enterprise cable TV networks.
Fox airs NFL video games on Sundays throughout the common season, which kicks off this 12 months on September 4. The printed community additionally airs MLB postseason video games, in addition to faculty soccer, which additionally takes place within the fall.
Nonetheless, the streaming service will not supply any unique or unique content material, Murdoch stated, including that a lot of its prices will come from overhead, advertising and marketing and know-how. That is in distinction to most of Fox’s rivals, which spend on extra sports activities rights and different content material unique to streaming.
“It is necessary to keep in mind that our subscriber expectations or aspirations for Fox One are modest,” Murdoch stated.
The corporate has been slower than its friends to leap into the streaming sport. Whereas it already has the Fox Nation service and Tubi, a free, ad-supported streaming app, it has but to supply its full content material slate in a direct-to-consumer providing.
Murdoch beforehand stated the associated fee for the service can be “wholesome and never a reduced worth,” in an effort to keep away from additional disrupting the pay TV bundle, which has suffered continued buyer losses.
Fox’s portfolio is principally made up of sports activities and information content material because it sold its leisure property to Disney in 2019. This has shielded Fox from among the cord-cutting headwinds which have affected its media friends lately.
On Tuesday, Murdoch reiterated that the corporate shall be trying to bundle Fox One with different streaming providers. Nonetheless, he stated the corporate shall be cautious on that entrance, equally in order to not trigger additional injury to the pay TV ecosystem.
He stated Fox is aware of two components in relation to bundling. First, to supply the buyer a handy bundle of its content material, and probably worthwhile bundles. And second, to maintain the service “very targeted” on a “focused viewers” of these prospects with out pay TV subscriptions.
“Typically these two issues battle with one another. So we need to be very focused, however we additionally need to make it straightforward for our shoppers and our viewers to achieve our content material, whether or not it is along side different providers or not,” Murdoch stated.
Earlier this 12 months, Murdoch instructed buyers that Fox would launch its personal reply to streaming after dropping its efforts for the joint sports activities streaming enterprise, Venu.
It will likely be joined by a brand new streaming providing from Disney’s ESPN within the coming weeks. Whereas Disney already affords the ESPN+ streaming service, the corporate will launch a full-service ESPN direct-to-consumer product this fall. Disney earlier stated that the app will value $29.99 a month. Disney experiences its quarterly earnings on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Fox reported whole income for its most recent quarter of $3.29 billion, up 6% from the identical interval final 12 months.
Whereas the promoting market has been weak for media corporations, notably for content material exterior of stay sports activities, Fox reported its promoting income elevated 7%. The corporate stated this was primarily as a result of development from Tubi in addition to “stronger information rankings and pricing,” regardless of a drag from the absence of main soccer occasions as in comparison with the year-earlier quarter.