The Desk appreciates the support of readers who purchase products or services through links on our website. Learn more...

Fox developing second premium streaming service

The new app will offer direct access to Fox's news and sports programming, with a potential price of $20 per month.

The new app will offer direct access to Fox's news and sports programming, with a potential price of $20 per month.

The Fox logo on the side of a building.
(Photo by Tony Webster via Flickr Creative Commons, Graphic by The Desk)

Fox Corporation is developing its second direct-to-consumer streaming service, one that will offer access to the company’s sports and cable news programming without a traditional pay TV subscription, executives confirmed on Tuesday.

The service, which has yet to be named, is expected to launch in the second half of 2025 and will target sports and news fans who have already ditched their cable or satellite TV subscription or who never subscribed to pay TV in the first place, bringing that content in front of households that have already picked streaming platforms as their preferred method for entertainment and information.



On a conference call with investors Tuesday, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the plan isn’t to cannibalize the cable and satellite bundle that has proven lucrative for Fox — the company earns a significant amount of income from retransmission fees charged to pay TV platforms — but to “reach consumers wherever they are.”

Accordingly, Fox intends to price the service at a rate that is attractive enough for fans of its cable news and sports programming, but not so low as to convince current cable and satellite subscribers to ditch their services, Murdoch said.



“We don’t want, and we have no intention of, turning a traditional distribution customer into our direct-to-consumer customer,” Murdoch said. “So, our subscriber expectations will be modest, and we’re going to price the service accordingly.”

Fox already has a direct-to-consumer streaming offering in its portfolio: Fox Nation, which targets fans of the Fox News Channel with on-demand access to the network’s prime-time programming along with original and acquired shows, documentaries and films that finds favor with the Fox News audience.



While Fox Nation is operated by Fox News Media, Fox’s entertainment division is overseeing the development of the new streaming service, according to a source who spoke with The Desk last month. (The Desk was preparing a story on the development of the new Fox streaming service prior to Murdoch’s confirmation on Tuesday.)

Current development plans call for the premium Fox streaming app to offer live access to Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports 1 and Fox Sports 2, along with Fox-owned college sports networks, the source affirmed. The company is targeting a price point of around $20 per month, though the final cost of the service could be slightly higher or lower by the time it hits the market later this year.

The app is expected to utilize the same technology stack that was being developed for Venu Sports, the streaming service that was supposed to launch last year as part of a joint venture involving Fox, the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD). On paper, Venu Sports operated as a subsidiary of Fox Corporation; the joint venture dissolved in early January following a prolonged — and since settled — legal challenge from streaming competitor Fubo. Some employees who worked on Venu Sports have since moved over to Fox to continue working on what will become the company’s direct-to-consumer news and sports platform, the source noted.

Fox has never distributed its live news and sports content through a wholly-owned, subscription-based streaming platform. Years ago, the company partnered with NBC and the Walt Disney Company on Hulu, a general entertainment service that operated as a joint venture before becoming fully acquired by Disney. Most of its top-tier entertainment content continues to be incorporated into Hulu, though some Fox network shows are also offered on Tubi, the company’s free, ad-supported streaming service.

Fox Nation offers live access to Fox News and Fox Business Network, but requires a cable or satellite subscription to view the channels through the app. Fox Weather, a free streaming climate news channel, is also available within Fox Nation, and the service occasionally produces its own coverage of key events like the Republican National Convention, the Democratic National Convention and presidential and midterm elections.

The forthcoming streaming service lands at a time when television broadcasters have seen their cable and satellite affiliate revenue erode thanks to higher segment churn. As more households drop cable and satellite, the per-subscriber fee that Fox and others charge is reduced. Most broadcasters have offset the decline in cable and satellite subscribers by simply charging pay TV platforms more in fees for the privilege of carrying their networks.

On Tuesday, Fox said its affiliate fee revenue increased 6 percent during the company’s fiscal first quarter (Q1, timed to coincide with calendar Q4 2024), driven by a 9 percent increase in broadcast TV affiliate fee revenue and a 4 percent bump in cable network affiliate fee revenue. Fox renegotiated many of its pay TV packages within the past 24 months with a stipulation that cable and satellite companies pay an upward adjusted price for the contined carriage of their networks.

Get stories like these in your inbox, plus free email alerts on breaking tech and media news.

Photo of author

About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys is a nationally-recognized, award-winning journalist who has covered the business of media, technology, radio and television for more than 11 years. He is the publisher of The Desk and contributes to Know Techie, Digital Content Next and StreamTV Insider. He previously worked for Thomson Reuters, the Walt Disney Company, McNaughton Newspapers and Tribune Broadcasting. Connect with Matthew on LinkedIn by clicking or tapping here.
Home » News » Industries » Television » Fox developing second premium streaming service