Communication Services
Entertainment
$21.91B
10.2K
Fox Corporation is a news, sports, and entertainment company that operates through two reportable segments: Cable Network Programming and Television. The company's core business model involves producing and licensing content for distribution through traditional cable systems, broadcast networks, and digital platforms. Fox holds leading market positions in live news and sports programming, with a significant presence in major U.S. markets.
Key insights and themes extracted from this filing
Total revenues decreased by $933 million, driven by a $1.2 billion decrease in advertising revenue. The decline in advertising was attributed to the absence of major sporting events like Super Bowl LVII and the FIFA Men's World Cup, as well as lower political advertising at FOX Television Stations.
Affiliate fee revenue increased by $273 million, primarily due to higher average rates per subscriber and higher fees received from television stations affiliated with the FOX Network. This partially offset the overall revenue decline.
Net income increased by $301 million, primarily due to the absence of legal settlement costs and lower indemnity costs. This was partially offset by lower gains and lower Segment EBITDA.
The company continues to focus on expanding its digital distribution offerings, including Tubi and Venu Sports, a digital sports programming distribution joint venture with ESPN and Warner Bros. Discovery, expected to launch in the fall of 2024.
The company acknowledges that its strategic initiatives could negatively impact its ability to renew MVPD agreements on favorable terms, potentially affecting affiliate fees.
The company emphasizes its commitment to maintaining leading positions in its core businesses and investing in attractive growth opportunities and brand extensions, such as digital brand extensions at FOX News Media and Tubi.
The company highlights its efforts to produce and distribute content in a cost-effective manner and share best business practices across regions. Operating expenses decreased by 6% year-over-year.
FOX lists job openings internally and externally and collaborates with professional organizations to reach a diverse pool of candidates. It also offers paid internships to build a diverse pipeline of early-career talent.
FOX provides employees with tools for a healthy work-life balance, including remote work options, parental leave, and onsite childcare. It also offers training sessions and resources for mental health and safety.
The company acknowledges the risks associated with changes in consumer behavior, evolving technologies, and the increasing competition from new entrants and emerging technologies. This includes the shift towards direct-to-consumer offerings and the increasing use of time-shifting and advertising-skipping technologies.
The company derives substantial revenues from the sale of advertising, and declines in advertising expenditures have caused, and could continue to cause, the company's revenues and operating results to decline significantly in any given period or in specific markets.
The company depends on affiliation and carriage arrangements that enable it to reach a large percentage of households through MVPDs and third party-owned television stations. There can be no assurance that these agreements will be renewed in the future, or renewed on favorable terms, or at all.
The company competes with other companies for high-quality content, advertisers' expenditures, and distribution on MVPDs and other third-party digital platforms. Consolidation, partnerships, and alliances among competitors have increased, further intensifying competitive pressures.
The company's business depends on the continued efforts and abilities of key personnel, including news, sports and entertainment personalities. The loss of such personnel could disrupt the management or operations of the company's business and adversely affect its revenues.
Programming distribution is a speculative business since the revenues derived from the distribution of content depend primarily on its acceptance by the public, which is difficult to predict. Low public acceptance of the Company's content will adversely affect the Company's results of operations.
Operating expenses decreased by $600 million, primarily due to lower sports programming rights amortization and production costs, driven by the absence of major sporting events like Super Bowl LVII and the FIFA Men's World Cup.
Selling, general and administrative expenses decreased by $25 million, primarily due to lower legal costs at FOX News Media, lower employee related costs, and the deconsolidation of the USFL.
In a variety of the Company's businesses, the Company and its partners engage the services of writers, directors, actors, musicians and other creative talent, production crew members, trade and craft employees and others whose services are subject to collective bargaining agreements. When negotiations to renew collective bargaining agreements are not successful or become unproductive, strikes, work stoppages or lockouts have occurred.
Technological developments increase the threat of content piracy and signal theft and limit the Company's ability to protect its intellectual property rights.
The Company is subject to complex laws, regulations, rules, industry standards, and contractual obligations related to privacy and personal data protection, which are evolving, inconsistent and potentially costly.
The Company maintains a cybersecurity program that is designed to identify, detect, assess and manage cybersecurity risks. The Company's senior management and its Board are actively involved in the oversight of the Company's risk management program, of which cybersecurity is an important part.
The Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program, under which the Company can repurchase $7 billion of Common Stock. As of June 30, 2024, the Company's remaining stock repurchase authorization was approximately $1.4 billion.
Subsequent to June 30, 2024, the Company increased its semi-annual dividend and declared a semi-annual dividend of $0.27 per share on both the Class A Common Stock and the Class B Common Stock.
Capital expenditures decreased from $357 million to $345 million.
Trust begins in the workplace every single day. We are committed to fostering a working environment of trust for our colleagues, in which people do their best work. Harassment, discrimination, retaliation and threats to health and safety all undermine our working environment of trust and make it harder for people to excel.
FOX is committed to protecting the health, safety and work environment of our employees, clients and neighbors. Our Environment, Health and Safety ("EHS") Program manages risks by implementing proactive, practical and feasible controls into daily work activities, as appropriate.
During the fiscal year, FOX supported military veterans, active-duty military, first responders and their families by partnering with U.S.VETS to champion their Make Camo Your Cause campaign, awarding the first two FOX Pat Tillman Veterans Center scholarships to Cronkite School of Journalism and Media Communications student veterans and presenting grants to caretakers of veterans through the Elizabeth Dole Foundation's Hidden Heroes program.
Evolving technologies and distribution platforms and changes in consumer behavior as consumers seek more control over when, where and how they consume content, and related impacts on advertisers and MVPDs
Prevailing economic conditions and the state of the financial markets affect various aspects of our business. In recent years, the U.S. economy has experienced a period of weakness and the financial markets have experienced significant volatility as a result of factors including declines in consumer confidence, concerns regarding high inflation, uncertainty about economic stability and political and sociopolitical uncertainties and conflicts, declining economic growth, diminished availability of credit and the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are subject to U.S. federal and state laws and regulations, as well as those of other countries, relating to the collection, use, disclosure, and security of personal information. The number and complexity of these laws and regulations continues to increase.