Variety: Fox CEO Puts Fox Nation Subscriber Totals at 2 Million to 2.5 Million

Story from Variety:

At Fox Corp., executives are counting more heavily on streaming subscribers.

The media company, which has been slower to invest heavily in stand-alone streaming properties than many of its rivals, sees a potential market of 5 million subscribers for a new direct-to-consumer broadband outlet it hopes to launch in tandem with the next NFL season, according to Lachlan Murdoch, the company’s CEO. The executive, speaking at an investor conference, also revealed that subscribers to Fox Nation, a streaming service affiliated with Fox News Channel, had lured between 2 million and 2.5 million subscribers since its launch in 2018.

Murdoch cited Fox Nation documentary series backed by actor Kevin Costner and director Martin Scorsese as being instrumental to luring subscribers to the service, which he said “has grown” over the past 12 months. The service tends to attract viewers who are significantly younger than those who watch traditional Fox News programming, and has focused more intently on lifestyle programming. Executives have found Fox Nation to be popular among consumers in the southern part of the U.,S.

Fox has rarely offered a look at subscriber metrics tied to Fox Nation since the service debuted.

The executive said media companies had to place new emphasis on “new markets” for news programming, citing a need to get content in front of viewers in any way they might want. That means paying more attention to streaming, digital and social, he said, even though Fox continues to generate much of its cash from the cable and satellite distribution of Fox News and Fox Sports.

Murdoch suggested a new stand-alone Fox streaming outlet would be aimed specifically at “cord nevers” and “cord cutters,” and not marketed with the idea of getting linear TV subscribers to switch to streaming. If he ever saw Fox Sports NFL analyst Tom Brady making a pitch to traditional TV viewers about cutting cable service, he said, “my head would explode.”

He also indicated Fox was willing to test other non-traditional avenues. The recent acquisition of Red Seat Ventures, a company that helps individual creators monetize programming, might be useful in getting Fox Corp. talent in front of viewers in new ways, Murdoch said.

But he also suggested Fox was buoyed by its revenue from old-school TV, with “100 new advertisers” coming to Fox News Channel since the 2024 election and viewers continuing to tune in to Fox’s Sunday-afternoon NFL telecasts on the company’s broadcast network. The NFL has an option in coming years to amend its current agreement with the media companies that have rights to show its games, and Murdoch said he viewed the condition as “an opportunity” to deepen his company’s relationship with the league.