The paragraph is an introduction to Fox Corporation's First Quarter Fiscal Year 2025 Earnings Conference Call. The operator welcomes participants and introduces Gabrielle Brown, the Chief Investor Relations Officer. Gabrielle apologizes for technical difficulties and introduces key speakers on the call, including Lachlan Murdoch, John Nallen, and Steve Tomsic. The call will include discussions on the company's financial performance and forward-looking statements. Non-GAAP financial measures will also be addressed, with reconciliations available on the company's website. Lachlan Murdoch then begins by highlighting the strong operating and financial results reported for the first quarter.

In the recent quarter, Fox Networks experienced a 21% increase in EBITDA, with sustained revenue growth of 11%, highlighting the effectiveness of its content and strategy. FOX News attracted over 145 million viewers in October, becoming the most-watched service for covering the election cycle. Notable programs included highly-rated episodes of "Gutfeld!" featuring President Trump and a town hall hosted by Harris Faulkner. Brett Baier's interview with Vice President Harris reached over 9 million viewers, setting a new standard for political interviews. FOX News demonstrated high engagement, with nearly 4 billion hours of content consumed across platforms, a 40% total audience growth, and a 60% increase in the key 25-54-year-old demographic. The network was the second most-watched in weekday television, the most-watched cable network overall in total day and PrimeTime, and maintained its position as the top cable news channel.

The paragraph highlights the success and diverse audience reach of FOX News, particularly during election cycles, being the top news channel across political parties and key demographic groups. It mentions increased ratings and political advertising revenue, especially through their local stations and the Tubi platform, which has seen significant growth and is expected to surpass $1 billion in revenue this fiscal year. Additionally, FOX Sports is experiencing a strong fall season with its broad array of broadcast rights.

The paragraph highlights Fox's recent successes in sports and entertainment broadcasting. In sports, the network achieved record viewership ratings for the MLB postseason, particularly the Yankees-Dodgers World Series, and noted a strong start to the NFL season with high ratings for America's Game of the Week. Additionally, Fox's new College Football Fridays have significantly outperformed previous programming. The network is set to broadcast Super Bowl 59 and has already sold out advertising at record prices. In entertainment, Fox premiered the most-watched animated show debut in the past decade, Universal Basic Guys, and the top-rated fall drama in four years, Rescue: HI-Surf. Overall, these highlights reflect Fox's strong leadership and strategic success in the industry.

The paragraph outlines Fox's strong financial performance at the start of fiscal 2025, highlighting a significant increase in revenues and EBITDA. Total company revenues rose 11% to $3.56 billion, driven by political advertising, Tubi's growth, and FOX News Media's expanding audience. Affiliate fee revenues increased by 6%, and other revenues by 47% due to higher sports sub-licensing revenues. Despite an 8% rise in expenses, primarily from sports programming rights and Tubi costs, EBITDA grew 21% to $1.05 billion. Net income for stockholders nearly doubled to $827 million, or $1.78 per share, compared to the previous year.

The paragraph discusses the financial performance of a company's cable and television segments. It highlights an increase in EBITDA and adjusted net income, driven by cable networks revenue growth of 15% and a 23% rise in cable segment EBITDA. Advertising revenue, particularly from FOX News Media and digital advertising, played a significant role, despite some negative impacts from breaking news coverage. Cable affiliate fee revenues grew by 3%, supported by pricing adjustments, and other cable revenues increased due to higher sports sub-licensing. Cable expenses rose mainly due to sports programming rights and election coverage costs. The television segment saw a 10% revenue growth, driven by strong political advertising, Tubi's growth, NFL ratings, and affiliate fee revenues. These gains offset the lack of FIFA Women's World Cup events.

The paragraph discusses the financial performance of a Television segment, highlighting a 3% increase in other revenues due to higher third-party content revenues from entertainment production studios. Television segment expenses grew by 11% due to increased programming rights amortization at FOX Sports and higher costs at Tubi, resulting in a 6% increase in segment EBITDA to $372 million. Free cash flow was positive at $94 million, influenced by the seasonality of the working capital cycle. The company continued its share buyback program, repurchasing $300 million this fiscal year, amounting to $5.9 billion cumulatively since 2019, with $7 billion authorized. The balance sheet shows $4.1 billion in cash and $7.2 billion in debt. Additionally, the paragraph mentions Gabrielle Brown taking over the call to begin the Q&A session, with a first question directed at Michael Morris from Guggenheim Partners about Comcast's business separation consideration.

The paragraph discusses Lachlan Murdoch's perspective on the impact of Comcast's plans on Fox and the video bundle industry. He emphasizes that Fox is not significantly affected and highlights the synergies across its platforms, including Fox Sports, local television stations, and Tubi, which benefit from its broad marketing reach. Murdoch believes that separating parts of the business would be challenging due to cost and revenue synergies. He also notes some improvement in subscriber trends, suggesting a potential stabilization in the decline rate of bundled subscribers.

The paragraph discusses the performance and consumer appeal of a core package that includes various brands, emphasizing its enduring value, especially due to its news, sports, and local television offerings. Steve Tomsic expresses satisfaction with the revenue growth in cable and TV, attributing it to pricing increases and moderated subscriber declines. Benjamin Swinburne, from Morgan Stanley, inquires about the impact of political advertising on the connected TV streaming market, noting Tubi's growing share. He asks how advertisers compare local station buys to Tubi and if there is any financial overlap, also requesting that Steve quantify the political advertising revenue for the cycle.

In the paragraph, Lachlan Murdoch explains that the current political advertising spend has shifted back to a more local focus compared to four years ago when there was a notable increase in national spending. This shift has benefited both traditional television stations and Tubi, Fox's digital streaming platform, by attracting targeted political ad dollars. While there was concern that digital platforms might cannibalize traditional media spending, Tubi has instead successfully captured additional funds, particularly from younger, diverse audiences who are difficult to reach through traditional means. Tubi's ability to efficiently target ads has made it a vital platform for advertisers seeking this demographic.

The paragraph discusses the financial performance of television stations and Tubi. The stations experienced significant revenue growth in Q1, particularly benefiting from the Georgia runoff election, with their performance already surpassing results from four years ago. Tubi, which had minimal revenue four years ago, has also seen substantial growth, reaching a meaningful revenue level. The strength of sports programming has led to increased national political advertising revenue. Robert Fishman from MoffettNathanson inquires about the future potential of Tubi, given its trajectory toward $1 billion in revenue, and whether there are plans to license FOX Sports content if the venue does not launch. Lachlan Murdoch is expected to respond to these questions.

The paragraph discusses the impressive growth of a business, partly due to political ad spending, but highlights that growth continues even without this influence. It attributes this success to having the largest AVOD library, with a majority being revenue-shared content. The platform's appeal lies in its video-on-demand offering rather than fast channels, suggesting it will continue to be a popular choice for how Americans watch free TV. It mentions an upcoming appeal regarding an injunction related to their "venue" platform, which they believe is beneficial for consumers and competition. The company focuses on building brands and producing content, rather than heavily engaging in sub-licensing sports rights. The operator then introduces a question from John Hodulik of UBS regarding the ad environment post-election.

Lachlan Murdoch discusses FOX's strong advertising revenue and market performance, highlighting that they are less impacted by general entertainment challenges. He notes healthy growth in all markets, bolstered by a successful World Series and upcoming Super Bowl, both of which exceeded revenue expectations. Murdoch emphasizes strong news ratings, especially in the key 25-54 demographic, and mentions significant increases in direct response pricing and robust entertainment scatter. Political spending is also contributing positively to their financial outlook.

In the paragraph, a discussion takes place among executives, including Gabrielle Brown and Lachlan Murdoch, regarding local market advertising trends, noting that the auto and retail sectors are soft while betting is experiencing growth. The conversation shifts to a query from Jessica Reif Ehrlich of Bank of America Securities about the approval process for Flutter and FanDuel, mentioning that they have six years to complete it, and are working on acquiring licenses in 26 states. Despite the lengthy process, Murdoch anticipates completing it within a year. Lastly, there is a brief mention of Tubi's accelerating growth, with a question about whether different sales or advertising strategies are contributing to this success.

The paragraph is a discussion between several individuals, including Jessica, Steve Tomsic, Lachlan Murdoch, Gabrielle Brown, and Michael Ng, concerning the financial performance and strategy for Tubi and the TV segment for fiscal '25. Tomsic highlights improvements in Tubi's fill rate leading to revenue growth despite a competitive market. Michael Ng from Goldman Sachs asks about the EBITDA bridge components for TV and digital losses. Tomsic responds by noting a positive outlook for the company, driven by political ad revenue, Tubi's success, FOX News' growth, and a strong MLB postseason. However, he mentions a headwind in Q2 advertising revenue due to the absence of a Christmas NFL game.

The paragraph discusses the impact of changes in sports rights on the company's financial performance, particularly in the second quarter. It highlights the costs associated with the Big Ten Expansion and increased rights fees, as well as the absence of revenue from WWE and the discontinuation of Pac-12. Looking ahead, the Super Bowl in the third quarter is expected to significantly boost cash flow, although not EBITDA. The entertainment schedule in Q3 is also expected to improve over the previous year. The fourth quarter will benefit from the absence of major soccer events like UEFA, Copa, or FIFA. Overall, the company anticipates strong performance in its TV segment in the coming quarters. The call concludes with an invitation to contact Gabrielle Brown or Charlie Costanzo for further questions.

This summary was generated with AI and may contain some inaccuracies.