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: Benjamin Swinburne - Morgan Stanley - Analyst
: I'm going to ask Steve a question because I can't ask Lachlan a question. I'd be cruel. Steve, you gave us a lot of good color thinking
about fiscal '26. I know you're not going to guide or you also know that consensus is expecting like I think a 10% decline in EBITDA.
Obviously, you lap political on the Super Bowl. But I don't know if your revenue trends have been this strong in a long time. So I'm
just wondering if there's any way you can help us think about fiscal '26, maybe a little more specifically, one way might be just to
talk about the sort of net drag on EBITDA from investment.
If you sort of put it all together, all the puts and takes, that digital drag in '26 versus '25 or anything else you can tell us to help us
think about your expectations for EBITDA in the year ahead?
Question: John Hodulik - UBS Investment Bank - Analyst
: I don't know if this is for Lachlan or maybe Steve can handle it, but just an update on the cable advertising trends and the efforts to
sort of expand the advertising base and the receptivity you're getting from advertisers there. And then maybe, Steve, can you just
follow up on the LatAm comments? Just what's the strategy there? I don't know if you can give us a sense of how much spending,
but just what the plan is and potential growth opportunities in LatAm.
Question: Michael Morris - Guggenheim Securities LLC - Analyst
: Two, if I could, please. First, I just wanted to ask on Tubi. I appreciate the color and the strength you're seeing there. You're outpacing
the broader CTV market pretty meaningfully. So I'd love to hear any detail on why you think you've been able to do that and how
you feel about the ability to continue to beat the market in the coming year.
And then just bigger picture, there's been some press reports that ESPN and NFL might enter an agreement that would give the NFL
an ownership stake in ESPN. And I'm curious if you could comment at all on what that might mean for FOX Sports and your relationship
with NFL or sports leagues more broadly?
Question: Michael Ng - Goldman Sachs Group Inc - Analyst
: I just wanted to follow-up with Steve on the comments around the collective investments for fiscal '26. I think that implies at least
$100 million to maybe $150 million of additional investments in LatAm and Fox One next year, just given the $50 million to $75
million improvement this year and the comments you made about Tubi profits further improving next year.
I just wanted to ask, is that kind of like the ballpark of the incremental investment levels that we're talking about? And maybe you
can just help frame some of the expected returns on those investments, whether that be for LatAm or FOX One subscribers to just
give a little bit more transparency there.
Question: Jessica Reif Ehrlich - Bank of America Securities - Analyst
: I guess the first question your balance sheet. Even if you did your full -- newly announced buyback, you still have flexibility. And
clearly, the industry is going to M&A in the current year or the coming year. How will Fox participate or not, your investment needs,
as you guys just outlined very specifically, very modest at $50 million. So just curious, it seems like it's finally going to happen maybe
as soon as next week. So that's one.
And then late maybe just to go back to something you mentioned on advertising, just kind of bigger picture. You guys are like clearly
outpacing the market. And so you gave us some color on Tubi and Fox News just overall television, what you guys seeing?
Question: Steven Cahall - Wells Fargo Securities LLC - Analyst
: So first, Lachlan, sorry to make you speak, but you did mention that there could be some bundles coming for FOX One. I was just
wondering how you think about different partners there. One partner has probably the most sports rights. There are some others
that could be kind of complementary to your afternoon NFL package. And also how you think about sort of integrating apps versus
just having them be sort of more pricing bundles for consumers.
And then over on the TV side of things, the FCC has been much more vocal around. I think, what it's kind of expecting in terms of
reverse comp and splits between networks and affiliates. Do you think things have changed in this outlook for your network business
and your relationship with affiliates and is there any meaningful financial impact we need to think about for the next couple of years
from that?
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