Fox Corp. is seeing a lot of momentum with its free streaming service Tubi.
“We’re seeing an outstanding growth,” Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said on a conference call to discuss its fiscal fourth-quarter results. He noted Tubi’s revenue rose 47% in the period over a year ago.
He also added that its total consumption grew by 79%, and is equal to a top five cable network.
Tubi’s success underscores the growing trend of viewers seeking free option for their streaming needs. Tubi offers movies and shows on demand for free in exchange for ad inserts, a tradeoff more consumers are willing to make as they deal with subscription fatigue.
“Fiscal 2023 was nothing short of spectacular,” Murdoch said, noting that it would continue to accelerate with each quarter.
Fox tapped former Vimeo CEO Anjali Sud to take over Tubi, and Murdoch said she would help the business strengthen its position in 2024. Sud will take over on September 1.
Murdoch also commented on whether any of its games would end up on a direct-to-consumer streaming service, noting that right now, he prefers to keep them gated by a pay wall using the traditional cable and satellite TV model.
While he said he was open to a more direct model, he would still prefer to keep the most premium games behind a paywall.
Fox earlier reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings of $375 million, or 74 cents a share, up from $306 million, or 55 cents a share, a year ago. Adjusted earnings, which exclude one-time items, was 88 cents a share.
Revenue was virtually flat, falling $1 million to $3.03 billion.
Analysts, on average, forecast earnings of 72 cents a share on revenue of $3.03 billion, according to Yahoo Finance.