‘Really in their hands’: Foxtel head speaks on potential sale

August 12, 2024 10:05

One of Foxtel’s key executives has spoken out about News Corp’s potential sale of the company.

In its quarterly financial statement released last week, News Corp CEO Robert Thomson, announced the move, saying: We are confident in the company’s long-term prospects and are continuing to review our portfolio with a focus on maximising returns for shareholders.

“That review has coincided recently with third-party interest in a potential transaction involving the Foxtel Group, which has been positively transformed in recent years.”

Appearing on an upcoming episode of Mumbrella’s one-on-one podcast – recorded just hours after News Corp released its results – the CEO of Foxtel’s streaming and advertising division, Julian Ogrin, said it will still be business as usual for the group.

“That’s one for the shareholders,” he said.

“All that is really for them to decide. As Robert said, they are very committed to the Foxtel Group and where our performance is. What they decide is really is in their hands. Us as management, we’re just going to continue on and provide the great service that we’re providing and the growth that we’ve been seeing.”

As for who will buy Foxtel should it go up for sale, The Weekend Mumbo tackled that issue head-on. Read all about it here.

Last week’s results saw Foxtel Group subscribers go up 1% year-on-year, with 4.776 million Aussies using the service, and 4.69 million payers.

Total streaming subscribers, including Kayo Sports, BINGE and Foxtel Now, are up 5%, hitting 3.305 million, and representing around 69% of all subs.

Broken down further, Kayo Sports is up 14%, with 1.606 million subscribers (1.550 million paid), while BINGE reached 1.552 million subscribers (1.529 million paid), up 1%.

Foxtel residential and commercial broadcast subscribers sits at 1.452 million, with a churn rate of 11.7%, but with average revenue per user up 6%, due to price hikes.