Fox Corporation wants to enter the lucrative streaming market dominated by Netflix, saying it will launch a subscription service by year’s end.
The service will not only stream entertainment and sport. It will also carry Fox News services to audiences beyond its reach as a Cable TV service, The New York Post reported.
The NYP reported comments from Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch on the plan.
He said Fox wanted to reach “a large population obviously that are now outside of the traditional cable bundle, either cord-cutters or cord-nevers,” the report said.
Mr Murdoch said Fox would not put its new streaming service ahead of cable TV, a business it remained heavily dependent on.
“We’re huge supporters of the traditional cable bundle, and we always will be.” He said Fox’s subscriber expectation for the new streaming service would be “modest and the service will be priced accordingly”, the NYP said.
The announcement follows the release of welcomed second quarter figures. Fox pocketed $US5.08bn revenue, ahead of an analyst estimate of US$4.85bn.
It obtained a slice of the US$6bn revenue from political advertising during the US election, and achieved a ratings boost in 2024 from telecasting Major League Baseball.
Its free Tubi streaming service has about 97 million monthly active users with a third of its viewers in the 18-34 age group, The NYP said.
Nevertheless, analysts have warned that the company’s move beyond traditional cable to the already crowded subscription streaming market could be risky.
In Australia Foxtel is persisting with its Hubbl set-top-box with a campaign announced late last year to attract more young people and family subscribers.
