News Corp is considering selling Foxtel, its Australian cable TV and streaming unit, after receiving an approach. A potential deal, reported by Reuters, would end its involvement in a high-overhead asset that has struggled to adapt to the streaming era.News Corp confirmed it was considering the deal in a trading update in which the division posted a 5 per cent profit decline for the June quarter.News Corp owns a majority share of the Foxtel Group, alongside minority holder Telstra. The Foxtel business includes the Kayo and Binge streaming services and the new Hubbl service.A review of the News Corp business units had “coincided recently with third-party interest in a potential transaction involving the Foxtel group”, CEO Robert Thomson said in a statement. “We are evaluating options […] with our advisors in light of that external interest.”A sale of Foxtel would relieve News Corp of a business has significant presence in the Australian media landscape but has faced disruption from cheaper streaming rivals. Foxtel once dominated Australian pay-TV but it has shed subscribers who pay about A$100 ($66) a month for that service since Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video and the like rolled out their streaming offers for a fraction of the price. Foxtel started its own streaming service in 2020. That has offset a decline in higher-paying traditional subscriber numbers but not in subscriber revenue, which was up 1 per cent in the June quarter.
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