Fox Corp. said the absence of a Super Bowl broadcast in its third fiscal quarter led to a downturn in profit and revenue, even as its cable operations showed increases in key areas.
The owner of Fox News Channel and the Fox broadcast network said revenue fell to $3.99 billion during the period, compared to the $4.37 billion in the year-earlier quarter. And while distribution revenue rose 3% thanks to activity from the company’s cable operations, none of it could truly offset comparisons with last year’s period. Advertising revenue came to $1.56 billion, compared to the $2.04 billion in last year’s period.
Fox said last year that its telecast of Super Bowl LIX generated $800 million in gross revenue.
In prepared remarks, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch put a spotlight on another massive sporting event that Fox had in the offing. “We are proud to be bringing the world’s biggest sporting event to American homes with the FIFA Men’s World Cup hosted here in North America across June and July,” he siad. “Meanwhile we remain steadfast in our commitment to delivering long-term shareholder value supported by our strong balance sheet.”
The company said net income attributable to shareholders totaled $166 million, or 38 cents per share, compared with $346 million, or 75 cents a share, in the year-earlier period.
The lack of a Super Bowl telecast was felt most heavily in the company’s traditional TV operations, where revenue fell to $2.2 billion, compared with $2.7 billion a year earlier. Ad revenue fell to $1.17 billion, compared with $1.66 billion a year ago, with Fox noting that the absence of Super Bowl revenue was partially offset by the broadcast of an additional NFL Wild Card game. Distribution revenue rose to $858 million, compared with $870 million.
The company’s cable properties saw more robust activity. Revenue from cable operations rose 65, or $105 million, to $.174 billion. Distribution revenue rose 5%, or $64 million, while ad revenue rose 5% , or $18 million, largely due to better pricing at Fox News and its related portfolio.
More to come…
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