Lachlan Murdoch said the new Fox streaming service he’s been teasing for months will be called Fox One and will launch before the start of football season this fall. He promised analysts on a call today that more details are to come.
He said “the pricing will be in line with our wholesale pricing” so it will be “healthy.” He said the company will be seeking out partnerships with other distributors and streaming services.
He unveiled the additional details after strong March quarter earnings. The new streaming platform will be run by Pete Distad. The price is still to come. At a conference recently, Murdoch had modest initial subscriber projections in the “mid-single digit millions” and year-end launch. It will be “holistic” of all the company’s content including Fox Sports and Fox News.
He’s been careful to stress that the goal is not to cannibalize linear television and Fox will not advertise it on linear television but is meant purely to capture those who cut the cord or have never subscribed to cable.
This is a service that rises out of the ashes of Venu, a sports streaming JV with Fox, Disney and WBD run by Distad. It languished in court and the partners changed their minds and scrapped it. Fox is going it alone now but there’ already been infrastructure and learnings. Fox has a much smaller streaming presence than other big media companies.
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