Fox Corp. beat Wall Street expectations Wednesday, delivering revenues of more than $3.2 billion. That was down from $3.44 billion a year earlier, when it aired a Super Bowl.
The company also detailed some of its digital expansion plans. For starters, Fox Corp. acquired Outkick, the sports site founded by former Fox Sports host Clay Travis. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Travis will continue to serve as Outkick’s president.
In addition, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said that the company will be “deeply integrating” Tubi, the free ad-supported streaming service, into its upfront negotiations with advertisers. Fox is also partnering with distribution partners to add live local news to Tubi.
On the Fox News front, Murdoch said that live coverage of CPAC, combined with the launch of Tucker Carlson-branded content, helped Fox Nation grow its subscriber base by 40 percent last quarter. However, the company has not released subscriber figures for the streaming service.
Murdoch also touted the ratings success of Fox News, which he said has returned to a more normal level after competitors CNN and MSNBC “clearly benefitted” from the post-election news cycle.
With regard to the NFL, Murdoch said that “our intent was always to release” Thursday Night Football, and that the company will focus on its Sunday NFC rights. He added that the new NFL rights deal gives Fox “optionality” to expand in the digital space going forward as well.
