Fox Corp. beat Wall Street forecasts on earnings per share, and was in line on revenue, in its fiscal Q4 earnings report Tuesday morning.
However, the company also saw its advertising revenue decline 4% year over year to $1 billion, with impacts at both its broadcast and cable networks.
In broadcast, the decline was due to lower political advertising revenues, which were offset by higher revenues at the free streaming service Tubi. At cable, the impact was “primarily due to the continued impact of elevated supply in the direct response marketplace” at Fox News. Fox News ousted its 8 PM host Tucker Carlson in the quarter, resulting in a ratings decline in that hour. It is not clear how much an impact Carlson’s departure had.
Total revenue for Fox were $3 billion in the quarter, just down slightly from a year ago, as higher affiliate fees at the Fox broadcast network helped make up for the advertising declines, as well as another decrease in affiliate fees in cable “as contractual price increases were more than offset by the impact of net subscriber declines.”
The company said that it was reducing its expenses at Fox News, lowering its “digital investment and newsgathering costs at Fox News Media.”
“Fiscal 2023 showcased the very best of Fox’s portfolio while achieving record annual revenue and EBITDA,” Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said. “From the exceptional sports calendar that included Super Bowl LVII and the FIFA Men’s World Cup, to the record-breaking political midterm cycle and the impressive growth seen at Tubi, the power of the Fox platform was on full display. We enter Fiscal 2024 with a focused strategy and best-in-class balance sheet as we continue to drive shareholder value.”
