The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
(Questions from industry analysts are provided in full, but answers are omitted - download the transcript to see the full question-and-answer session)
Question: Michael Morris - Guggenheim Securities, LLC - Analyst
: Comcast said last week that they are considering separating their cable network business from the rest of the company, and so broadly, it'd be
great to get your thoughts on how that may impact you or the industry at large. Fox clearly has been a consistent supporter of the video bundle.
So I'm curious if this seems like one of your major partners is maybe a little less committed.
And if I could, just one one other topic. You have seen this modest acceleration in affiliate revenue growth, cable and TV, for two quarters in a row
now. Steve, you mentioned the slight improvement in underlying subscriber trends. Do you feel any more comfortable maybe that we are getting
closer to a bottom in the rate of bundled subscriber declines?
Question: Ben Swinburne - Morgan Stanley Co. LLC - Analyst
: Want to ask you guys about political advertising. I don't know if you would agree, it feels like the sort of connected TV streaming market is really
participating in this cycle in a way, at least that I haven't noticed in the past. And Tubi clearly is gaining share in the political advertising market.
So what are you guys seeing in terms of advertiser demand? Like how do they look at local station buys versus Tubi? Are you solving sort of different
equations for campaigns and candidates? And do you think there's any cannibalization? In other words, is Tubi taking money out of the station
group? And I don't know if Steve, if you want to sort of quantify kind of holistically the political dollars you're seeing in the quarter or for the cycle,
that would be helpful, too.
Question: Robert Fishman - MoffettNathanson LLC - Analyst
: Maybe just a follow-up on Tubi more broadly. Now that it's on track to reach $1 billion in revenue, can you just help us investors think about like
what the future of this asset really looks like and how big it can get with this current momentum?
And then maybe just secondly, any updates you can provide on the future of Venu? If it doesn't launch, do you have a willingness to license Fox
Sports content to other potential partners?
Question: John Hodulik - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst
: Two, if I could. First, can you guys comment on sort of how you see the ad environment shaping up post election? And maybe what you're seeing
now in terms of pricing from a direct response standpoint?
And then obviously, ratings have been very strong. It looks like you guys have some easier -- maybe not quite as easy, but easier comps over the
next couple of quarters at Fox News. How should we think about the outcome of the election? And maybe historically, do you expect to keep the
same momentum we have -- we've seen recently regardless of the outcome? Just any perspective you have there would be great.
Question: Jessica Reif Ehrlich - BofA Global Research (US) - Analyst
: Maybe switching gears a little bit to Flutter and FanDuel. Can you talk about how long it will take you to get through the approval process? And
once you do, what would make you exercise earlier or later? And ultimately, what do you think you'd do with this asset?
And then one last thing, if we could just go back to Tubi, which is so phenomenal. And you said it's accelerating, Lachlan you walked through all
the characteristics, but you had that before, so why is it accelerating? Are you selling differently or using different advertising tools?
Question: Michael Ng - Goldman Sachs & Company, Inc. - Analyst
: Just was wondering if you could talk about some of the EBITDA bridge components at TV for fiscal '25, Steve? Specifically, I know you talked about
digital losses going to the high $200 million this year, given the Tubi outperformance. Is that number better? And then anything else that you
would flag for us as we think about the build for TV?
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