FOX Business’ Ashley Webster and Susan Li react to a fan who went viral for falling asleep in the stands while at Super Bowl LIV.
By Joe Flint and Micah Maidenberg
Continue Reading Below
Fox Corp. took in about $600 million in advertising revenue for its coverage of Super Bowl LIV and the pregame and postgame content, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch said Wednesday.
On a call with analysts to discuss the company’s quarterly results, Mr. Murdoch said it was a record day for Fox. Sunday’s game averaged 99.9 million viewers on the Fox network and an additional three million watched online and on Fox’ Spanish-language sports channel.
Conversations about renewing the company’s National Football League deals for Sunday and Thursday football have begun, Mr. Murdoch said. Both deals expire at the end of the 2022 season. He said Fox is “in a good place to work with them” on a new deal.
‘JEOPARDY!’ HOST ALEX TREBEK: HOW MUCH DOES THE LONGTIME GAME SHOW HOST MAKE?
Fox on Wednesday reported that revenue for its fiscal second quarter, which ended Dec. 31, rose 5% from a year earlier to $3.78 billion, helped by higher affiliate fees.
Mr. Murdoch spent much of the call talking about the strength of Fox News, which continues to dominate cable-news ratings — although its advertising revenue was down slightly in the latest quarter. The company attributed the advertising decline to pre-emptions of regular programming for breaking news and not to advertiser boycotts targeting the network’s prime-time opinion lineup.
Fox News is seeing an expansion of advertisers, Mr. Murdoch said, particularly in the finance and technology sectors. He also said many advertisers are coming to Fox News to reach viewers outside of the big markets.
“There is a growing sense in the market that if you want to reach middle America there is no better place to place your brand and advertising on Fox News,” he said.
Mr. Murdoch also told analysts that he anticipates significant political ad revenue at the company’s media platforms, especially its local stations, in this election year.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
“We are already seeing signs of increased political spending,” he said.
Fox’s $3.78 billion in revenue surpassed analyst expectations of $3.64 billion. Affiliate fees rose 7% in the quarter compared with a year earlier, while advertising revenue was up about 1%.
Net profit jumped to $300 million, or 48 cents a share, from $8 million, or one cent a share, a year earlier. The increase stemmed largely from unrealized gains in the value of Fox’s investments in streaming-device company Roku Inc. and gambling company Stars Group Inc.
New York-based Fox and Roku recently struck a distribution deal, avoiding a blackout that would have removed Fox apps from Roku’s streaming platform.
Fox and The Wall Street Journal’s parent, News Corp, share common ownership.
Fox became a stand-alone publicly traded company in March of last year following Walt Disney Co.’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox’s major entertainment assets. The company’s properties include Fox Sports, Fox News and television stations.
