Advertising revenue Fox Corp. Up 4% in a tough quarter fueled by the NFL and the World Cup

Fox Corp. meeting Wall Street expectations for the fiscal second quarter, driven by NFL football in the US and soccer at the World Cup.

The company reported total revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31, up 4% from the prior-year period and earnings of 48 cents per share.

Affiliate fee revenue increased 1%, driven by 6% growth in the television division. Advertising revenue rose 4%, no mean feat in a difficult economic environment, thanks mainly to the World Cup in Qatar and strong NFL results at Fox Sports. Further impetus came from political spending at the company’s local stations and the growth of the Tubi streaming service. The “Other income” category rose 13%, which the company said was primarily due to its acquisition of Mar Vista Entertainment in December and higher subscription income from Fox Nation. Fox did not release subscriber numbers for Fox Nation, which launched in 2018.

This is Fox’s first earnings report since the company and its big brother News Corp. gave up on a possible merger. A statement from the companies controlled by Rupert Murdoch said they had concluded that a combination was “not optimal” for shareholders. Minority shareholders refused to reunite the companies after nearly a decade of separate operations.

Fox’s quarterly numbers are the latest referendum on the status of traditional TV advertising. Although there is a fast-growing free streaming service, Tubi, that generates advertising revenue, most of Fox’s revenue comes from traditional pay-TV channels and its lucrative local channel offering. As the advertising market began to falter in the second half of 2022, Fox was one of the few companies to report encouraging results. The broader pullback of many advertisers due to inflation and other economic factors helped balance midterm election spending for Fox News and the stations, as well as increased vote for live sports, particularly the NFL and college football.