Media

Fox tops profit predictions as revenue jumps nearly 20% in Q3

Fox Corp. bested estimates for third-quarter revenue and adjusted profit due to a huge boost from the Super Bowl and advertising-supported streaming service Tubi, the media giant said Tuesday.

The New York-based company said its revenue rose 18%, to $4.08 billion, compared with a year ago as February’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVII reeled in approximately $650 million in gross ad revenue.

The NFL title game was the most watched program in US TV history with 115 million viewers, helping to juice 31% revenue growth for the quarter at Tubi.

Fox’s ad revenue surged 43% to $1.88 billion, well past the expectation of $1.67 billion.

Chief Executive Lachlan Murdoch also affirmed the company’s prime-time programming strategy following its recent $787.5 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems and dismissal of Tucker Carlson.

Murdoch said the network is “always adjusting our programming and our lineup and that’s what we continue to do.”

The company noted that profit swung to a quarterly net loss of $54 million, compared with a profit of $283 million in the same period last year, after being weighed down by legal costs related to the defamation lawsuit.

“We made the business decision to resolve this dispute and avoid the acrimony of a divisive trial and a multi-year appeal process, a decision clearly in the best interests of the company and its shareholders,” Murdoch said during the call with investors.

Fox HQ
Fox said strong advertising from the Super Bowl helped stem some of the losses in the third quarter . AP

“The settlement in no way alters Fox’s commitment to the highest journalistic standards across our company or our passion for unabashedly reporting the news of the day,” Murdoch added.

Fox Corp. shares a common owner with News Corp, which owns The Post.