Fox to reveal more details about Fox One on Tuesday

The logo of streaming service Fox One. (Courtesy logo, Graphic by The Desk)

Executives at Fox Corporation will announce more details about the forthcoming streaming service Fox One during the company’s financial earnings call this week, The Desk has learned.

The details will be released during Fox’s fiscal fourth quarter (Q4, coincides with calendar Q2) earnings release and subsequent conference call with investors and reporters, during which executives will offer a definitive launch date for the service, pricing and platform availability.

Officially, Fox has offered vague details about the streaming service, saying only that it will launch in time for the start of the National Football League’s (NFL) regular season at a price point that is comparable to what cable and satellite operators pay for carriage of their broadcast and cable TV channels.

The Desk previously reported that Fox One will launch in September for around $20 to $25 per month, based on conversations with sources and statements offered by executives at industry events. Fox has also held discussions with peer media companies like the Walt Disney Company and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) about bundling their streaming apps and channels with Fox One, The Desk reported in June.

Fox One will be the company’s second foray into a premium streaming offering. The first is Fox Nation, the streaming app operated by the parent subsidiary of Fox News Media, which offers programs that complement Fox News but are otherwise separate from the shows aired on the cable channel (though it does offer next-day replays of prime-time Fox News shows).

Fox Nation will be part of the Fox One bundle, executives previously confirmed. The platform will also offer cable-free access to streaming simulcasts of Fox News, Fox Business Network, Fox Sports 1 (FS1) and Fox Sports 2 (FS2). Streamers in most areas will be able to access their local Fox-owned station or an independently-owned Fox affiliate, depending on where they live. Fox is still working through agreements with some smaller affiliate station owners to bring their channels to Fox One, a high-level source said.

The Fox One platform is a slight divergence from Fox’s long-held strategy of harnessing cable and satellite partnerships to drive revenue to the media company. Executives say Fox One is intended to target “cord-nevers” — households that have never signed up for a traditional pay TV package — and the company wants to market and price Fox One in a way that doesn’t further encourage the trend of “cord-cutting” — people moving away from cable and satellite in favor of streaming.

Fox’s revenue is still highly dependent on cable and satellite partnerships: During its most-recent financial quarter, Fox earned $1.14 billion in cable and satellite distribution fees, the costs charged to pay TV platforms for carriage of its channels. Advertising comprised just $372 million of its cable TV-based revenue.

Broadcast TV brought in another $870 million in affiliate fees, though Fox combines its broadcast TV advertising revenue with that of streaming service Tubi, so it is difficult to evaluate how much broadcast TV earned in advertising over the past few quarters.

Tubi will play an outsized role in the development and marketing of Fox One: Job postings reviewed by The Desk show the Tubi Media Group will lead the effort to build, deploy and sell Fox One to streamers and advertisers alike. Fox is in the process of consolidating its advertising business units into a single enterprise called “One Fox,” which will be tasked with selling spots across both its linear TV networks and streaming platforms.

Fox will report its fiscal Q4 earnings early Tuesday morning.

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