There was some good news announced from the Foxtel Group, with total streaming subscribers rising 52% year-over-year.
News Corp has released its third quarter fiscal 2022 results, and there has been a major uptick in the Foxtel Group’s streaming subscription numbers.
The total Foxtel Group subscribers were 4.54 million (4.34 million paid) as at March 31, 2022.
This was a 20% increase on last year.
Total streaming subscribers for Foxtel, which include Kayo Sports, Binge and Foxtel Now, reached 2.78 million (2.54 million paid), up 52% year-over-year and 21% on the prior quarter.
Those streaming subscribers represent 61% of the Foxtel Group’s total streaming subscribers.
The breakdown per streaming platform is as follows:
- Kayo Sports reached 1.21 million subscribers (1.15 million paid), up 32% year-over-year and 17% higher than the prior quarter.
- Binge reached 1.31 million subscribers (1.21 million paid), up 92% year-over-year and 26% on the prior quarter.
- Foxtel Now reached 215,000 subscribers (206,000 paid), down 10% year-over-year.
Foxtel Residential and Commercial broadcast subscribers were at 1.762 million. In all:
- The Residential broadcast subscribers declined to 1.52 million, down 11% year-over-year.
- Average revenue per unit (ARPU) was up 1.8% year-on-year to AU$81.70 through a continued focus on Foxtel’s premium brand positioning.
- Foxtel Residential Broadcast churn improved 580 basis points to 14.3% compared to the prior year.
Speaking during the Q3 FY2022 Investor Briefing, chief executive of News Corp, Robert Thomson, said:
“In Subscription Video Services, the third quarter saw continued progress in reshaping the Foxtel Group as a growth‐oriented subscription business, with continued success in streaming, stable revenues and solid cash generation.
“Notably, Kayo and Binge both surged in the quarter, and are now reaching record numbers of subscribers. Kayo plans to implement a price increase* as it benefits from its scaled platform and high quality production, which is driving record ratings at the start of the season for both the NRL and the AFL. Overall, total paying streaming subs reached nearly 2.6 million, up 62%.
“We remain pleased with Foxtel’s turnaround, and harbour great optimism about its near and long‐ term future. We are continuing to explore all options for Foxtel to maximize its value, while watching closely all relevant developments in the financial markets.”
News Corp CFO Susan Panuccio added:
“In Subscription Video Services, we remain pleased with the performance of the streaming products and the ongoing focus on Broadcast ARPU and churn. As mentioned earlier, we expect full year costs in local currency to be relatively flat versus the prior year and we expect improvement in profitability in the fourth quarter against the prior year.”
