Fox Corp. revealed new details about its streaming service on Monday, including that it would debut this fall and would be called Fox One.
The announcement came ahead of the company’s upfront, an annual pitch to entice advertisers with a slate of upcoming shows. Lachlan Murdoch, the company’s chief executive and son of the Fox Corp. founder, Rupert Murdoch, previewed the service on a quarterly earnings call. The name Fox One, he said, was a reference to the combined heft of the company’s TV shows, cable channels and broadcast network, including National Football League games.
“Whether it’s the Super Bowl, the election cycle or the upfront, our company is at its best when we work together as one,” Mr. Murdoch said.
Mr. Murdoch did not say how much Fox would charge viewers, only that it would not be less than what its cable subscribers pay.
Unlike Disney or Warner Bros. Discovery, which have put paid streaming services at the center of their businesses, Fox Corp. has until now adopted a more piecemeal approach. The company, which owns the Fox News cable channel and the Fox broadcasting network, operates the Fox Nation streaming service and Tubi, a free ad-supported service with TV shows and movies.
The Fox Nation streaming service will continue to exist as a stand-alone product within Fox Corporation, but Fox One subscribers will be able to bundle their subscriptions with Fox Nation. Mr. Murdoch also said that Fox had been approached by operators of other streaming services about offering a bundled subscription, though he did not identify them.
Fox recently announced plans to team up with Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery on a sports-focused streaming service called Venu. That service was canceled before it got off the ground amid legal challenges.
Like Venu, Fox One is meant to coexist with the company’s lucrative traditional TV business. In his remarks, Mr. Murdoch said that the service was aimed at the “cordless” market, referring to viewers who do not have a pay-TV subscription. Traditional cable customers who already have access to Fox channels will be able to get Fox One free of charge.
“It would be a failure if we attract more connected subscribers,” Mr. Murdoch said, adding, “We do not want to lose a traditional cable subscriber to Fox One.”
Benjamin Mullin reports for The Times on the major companies behind news and entertainment. Contact him securely on Signal at +1 530-961-3223 or at [email protected].
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