Sentiment Analysis of the earnings transcript to help figure out if there are any bullish or bearish sentiments that could be gathered from it. We're doing ML and AI based analysis on the earnings call to get some more insights.
Please consider a small donation if you think this website provides you with relevant information
| Statement |
|---|
| Taking all these factors into account, quarterly adjusted EBITDA at the Cable segment grew 60% over the prior year quarter |
| The growth we delivered in affiliate fee revenues was the standout this quarter, with the Television segment growing by 10% and the Cable segment returning to growth, once again demonstrating the power of our brands and our programming |
| With that, we believe as we've achieved in over the last year, where we've renewed over a third of our distribution, we've been able to achieve rate increases that have made up for those declines |
| Parsing through the cyclical comparisons, our concentration in News and Sports coupled with the outstanding performance at Tubi is clearly an advantage in a mixed advertising environment |
| More specifically, sports advertising was very healthy during the quarter and we saw particularly strong demand for the NFL and College Football, which continued into the NFL playoffs |
| We were also able to increase our viewing share over the previous quarter, and the positive trends in share ratings and pricing have carried over into the current quarter |
| We think there's tremendous value in the Pay TV bundle for the consumer who wants to get it all at an affordable price |
| This marks the fifth straight year that Fox has topped the industry in live sports viewing and demonstrates the unparalleled reach and engagement our content achieves |
| That strength continued into the post-season, with Fox's three post-season windows delivering a best ever playoff average of almost 45 million viewers across the wildcard, divisional, and championship games |
| In digital, we saw strong engagement at Tubi, which finished with a very impressive 62% growth in total view time and 17% growth in revenue |
| So we are very confident that this is a large market and a large opportunity that we can address without undermining the traditional bundle |
| So we're very pleased with that |
| At FOX Entertainment, the second quarter saw programming strength, with Fox having the season's number one new broadcast entertainment series in Krapopolis, hats off to Dan Harmon, the number one new game show debut in Snake Oil and the number one cooking series in Hell's Kitchen |
| We're also pleased with the very strong start of our mid-season lineup and the early success of We Are Family and The Floor |
| So I think that really shows the strength of our brands and our programming in the cable universe |
| But in the sort of streaming environment, we're very happy with its growth |
| So we're very confident in a very strong political cycle once that really starts to flow |
| So we're happy with where we are at Fox News as all those trends are improving steadily |
| Fox News, you have positive trends of VR pricing |
| And there's a lot of positive momentum with advertisers with those |
| With the vast majority of our fiscal 2024 affiliate renewals now successfully completed, Fox delivered 4% growth in total company affiliate fee revenues, led by 10% growth at Television and a return to growth at Cable |
| But we had a fantastic College Football season, really, I think the story of this past autumn was really the strength of College Football, and particularly as advertisers, you sort of founded and appreciated the quality of the audience watching College Football |
| Against the backdrop of an active news cycle and another robust fall sports schedule, our fiscal second quarter again illustrated the strength of Fox |
| If I start with sports, we had a very solid regular NFL season from an advertising perspective, and I think a stronger NFL post-season, which we were very pleased by, but also that was a smaller revenue line |
| So we think it's a tremendous opportunity |
| The TV segment reported strong 10% growth in affiliate fee revenues as price increases across all Fox affiliated stations more than offset the impact from industry subscriber declines |
| Total company other revenues grew by 14%, driven by higher sports sublicensing revenues |
| And that is because of the strength of our brands, the strength of our programming, and really where they sit, having sort of a focused strategy on a key number of very core brands that are essential for the -- for distributors and for their customers that will be able to maintain similar rates of change going forward |
| So we think it's an incredibly strong offering and at this stage, we're not contemplating adding partners to it |
| Tubi's library of over 240,000 movies and TV episodes coupled with ubiquitous distribution drove engagement, helping Tubi reach 78 million monthly active users, log almost 2.5 billion streaming hours in the quarter and set a new monthly record of 855 million total viewing hours in December alone |
| Statement |
|---|
| All in Fox reported total company revenues of $4.23 billion, down 8% from the prior year |
| Collectively, these factors contributed to a 20% decline in total company advertising revenues |
| As expected, advertising revenues in the quarter were down, primarily due to comparisons to last year's major cyclical events, including the mid-term elections at the TV stations and the broadcast of the Men's World Cup in the Cable and Television segments |
| Moving to our Television segment, which reported total quarterly revenues of $2.54 billion, down 13% from the prior year |
| TV advertising revenues were down 19% |
| At FOX News Media, advertising revenues were impacted by a softer direct response marketplace, low comparative ratings, and higher levels of preemptions due to our breaking news coverage of global events |
| Together, these revenue and expense impacts led to a quarterly adjusted EBITDA loss of $138 million to our TV segment, compared to an EBITDA contribution of $256 million reported in the prior year quarter |
| Consistent with our expectations regarding event cycles, advertising revenues this quarter were impacted by the absence of the FIFA Men's World Cup at FOX Sports and mid-term political revenues at the local television stations, along with lower advertising revenue at FOX News Media |
| But you have a bad comparison, particularly in the current pacings with Super Bowl comps this time last year |
| This contributed to a $64 million decline in TV other revenues, most of which was offset by a commensurate reduction in expenses |
| At News, the second quarter was more nuanced, while preemptions and the direct response market adversely impacted quarterly growth, we sequentially narrowed the gap between the current and prior year in ratings and in pricing |
| Total company expenses decreased 5% over the prior year, primarily due to the absence of the Men's World Cup at FOX Sports and fewer hours of original scripted programming at FOX Entertainment due to the strikes |
| Also at TV, revenue from our entertainment production companies was impacted by the SAG and WGA related disputes |
| Lachlan Murdoch I've lost track forgive me |
| Turning to free cash flow, where we recorded a deficit of $615 million this quarter |
| There's some cyclicality within that |
| Expenses at the Cable segment were 14% lower than the prior year, with savings mainly gained from the absence of the Men's World Cup, as well as lower legal programming and production costs of FOX News Media |
| This is slightly ameliorated, I think in the current quarter with the lack of a competitive primary competition, but we're already seeing business in the first half of next year start to flow in from a political perspective |
| In terms of the risks, and particularly for Fox News, I think the risks are very low, and that's because of the focus of the sports product being on the cord nevers |
| First, just quickly on the sports TV, just any cash contribution or can you size any cash contribution required from Fox? And then turning to advertising, obviously, a number of things affecting the numbers this quarter |
Please consider a small donation if you think this website provides you with relevant information