Company type | Public |
---|---|
ISIN | |
Industry | Media |
Predecessor | 21st Century Fox |
Founded | March 19, 2019 |
Founder | Rupert Murdoch |
Headquarters | 1211 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
|
Products | Television programs web portals |
Services | Broadcasting Licensing Streaming Television |
Revenue | US$13.97 billion [2] (2022) |
US$2.57 billion (2022) | |
US$1.21 billion (2022) | |
Total assets | US$22.19 billion (2022) |
Total equity | US$11.56 billion (2022) |
Owner | Murdoch family (39% voting power) |
Number of employees | 9,000 (2020) |
Divisions | |
Website | www |
Footnotes /references [3] [4] [5] [6] |
Fox Corporation (stylized in all-caps as FOX Corporation [7] ) is an American multinational mass media company headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in Midtown Manhattan. Incorporated in Delaware, it was formed on March 19, 2019 as the portion of 21st Century Fox not acquired by The Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019. [8] [9] [10] [11] The company is controlled by the Murdoch family via a family trust with 39.6% ownership share, and by Rupert Murdoch himself to the effect of almost 40%. [12] [13]
Rupert Murdoch is chair, while his son Lachlan Murdoch is executive chair and CEO. Fox Corp. deals primarily in the television broadcast, news, and sports broadcasting industries. Its assets include the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports, Tubi, and others. Its sister company under Murdoch's control, News Corp, holds his newspaper interests and other media assets.
On September 21, 2023, Rupert Murdoch announced that he was stepping down as the chairman of Fox Corporation, effective November 2023. [14]
The company name traces back through a series of mergers and demergers to the Fox Film Corporation founded by William Fox on February 1, 1915. [15]
On December 14, 2017 The Walt Disney Company announced its intent to acquire the motion picture, cable entertainment, and direct broadcast satellite divisions of 21st Century Fox, including 20th Century Fox, for $52.4 billion. The remainder of the company would form a so-called "New Fox", maintaining control of assets such as Fox's television network and broadcast stations (which Disney, already owning ABC, would be legally unable to own due to an FCC policy known as the "dual network rule", which prohibits mergers between the top broadcast networks), Fox News, the national operations of Fox Sports, and the 20th Century Fox studio lot, which would be leased to Disney for seven years. Fox's regional sports networks were also included in the sale, but were later divested by order of the Department of Justice, on the grounds that the Fox regional networks' combination with Disney's 80% ownership of ESPN would make Disney too dominant in the cable sports market. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]
In May 2018 it was confirmed that Lachlan Murdoch, rather than James Murdoch, would take charge of the New Fox company. [4]
In mid-2018 NBCUniversal's parent company Comcast instigated bidding wars over both the Fox assets Disney planned to purchase, and the British broadcaster Sky plc (a company which 21st Century Fox held a stake in, and was planning to acquire the remainder). In July 2018, Fox agreed to an increase of Disney's offer to $71.3 billion to fend off Comcast's counter-bid. [21] [22] British regulators ordered that a blind auction be held for Sky's assets, which was won by Comcast. [23]
On October 10, 2018, it was reported that in preparation for the impending completion of the sale, the new, post-merger organizational structure of "New Fox" would be implemented by January 1, 2019. [5] On November 14, 2018, it was revealed that the new independent company will maintain the original Fox name. [24] On January 7, 2019, Fox Corporation's registration statement was filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. [25]
On January 11, 2019, Fox stated in a securities filing that it had no plans to bid on its former regional sports networks; [8] they would instead go to a consortium led by Sinclair Broadcast Group, with Fox Corporation continuing to license the FSN name to those stations until Sinclair developed a new brand (the networks would eventually become Bally Sports). [26] On March 12, 2019, Disney announced that the sale would be completed by March 20, 2019. [27] On March 19, 2019, Fox Corporation officially began trading on the S&P 500, replacing 21st Century Fox on the index. [10] Republican politician and former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan also joined Fox Corporation's board at this time. [3]
Under the terms of the acquisition, Disney will phase out the Fox brand usage by 2024. [28]
Fox Corporation began operating separately on March 19, 2019. [3] Chairman and CEO Lachlan Murdoch led a town hall meeting three days later, indicating that stock would be issued to the corporation's employees based on longevity. [29]
In May 2019 via the Fox Sports division, Fox Corporation acquired a 4.99% stake in Canadian online gambling operator The Stars Group for $236 million. As a result, it was also announced that the companies would co-develop sports betting products for the U.S. market under the branding Fox Bet. [30]
In early July 2019, Fox Entertainment announced the formation of SideCar, with executives led by Gail Berman. SideCar is a content development unit for Fox and other outlets. [31]
In August 2019, Fox Corporation acquired Credible Labs for $397 million and animation studio Bento Box Entertainment for $50 million. [32] [33] [34]
On April 20, 2020, Fox Corporation acquired streaming service Tubi for $440 million. [35] [36]
In June 2020, SideCar was shut down by Fox. [37]
In September 2021, Fox Corporation acquired TMZ from WarnerMedia in a deal worth about $50 million with TMZ being operated under the Fox Entertainment division. [38]
In December 2021, Fox Corporation acquired the film and television production studio MarVista Entertainment. [39] [40]
In September 2022, Fox Corporation announced the launch of Fox Entertainment Studios. This is the company's first venture into entirely in-house television production. The studio debuted its first show, Monarch, on September 11, 2022. [41] Fox also announced that Fox Entertainment would re-enter the international distribution business by launching a sales unit called Fox Entertainment Global. [42]
On October 14, 2022, it was announced that, under the instruction of Rupert Murdoch, a special committee had been established to explore a potential merger of Fox and News Corp, bringing the two companies back together since the former 21st Century Fox was spun-off from News Corp in 2013. [43] On January 24, 2023, the proposed merger was abandoned by Murdoch. [44] [45]
The company consists of the former 21st Century Fox's media and broadcasting properties that were owned by its predecessor, such as the Fox Broadcasting Company and Fox Sports Media Group. [46]
Sky Group Limited is a British media and telecommunications conglomerate, which is a subsidiary of the American conglomerate Comcast, and headquartered in Isleworth. It has operations in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Sky is Europe's largest media company and pay-TV broadcaster by revenue, with 23 million subscribers and more than 31,000 employees as of 2019. The company is primarily involved in satellite television, producing and broadcasting. The current CEO is Dana Strong.
Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on March 20, 2019, following its acquisition of 21st Century Fox. A condition of that acquisition imposed by the U.S. Department of Justice required Disney to sell the regional networks by June 18, 2019, 90 days after the completion of its acquisition. Disney subsequently agreed to sell the networks to Sinclair; the transaction was completed on August 22, 2019. The networks continued to use the Fox Sports name only under a transitional license agreement while rebranding options were explored. A rebranding cross-partnership with Bally's Corporation took effect on March 31, 2021, and the networks were rebranded as Bally Sports, ending the Fox Sports Networks branding after 25 years.
The original incarnation of News Corporation was an American multinational mass media corporation controlled by media mogul Rupert Murdoch and headquartered at 1211 Avenue of the Americas in New York City. Prior to its split in 2013, it was the world's largest media company in terms of total assets and the world's fourth largest media group in terms of revenue, and News Corporation had become a media powerhouse since its inception, dominating the news, television, film, and print industries.
Comcast Corporation, incorporated and headquartered in Philadelphia, is an American multinational telecommunications and media conglomerate. The corporation is the second-largest broadcasting and cable television company in the world by revenue. It is the third-largest pay-TV company, the second-largest cable TV company by subscribers, and the largest home Internet service provider in the United States. In 2023, the company was ranked 51st in the Forbes Global 2000. Comcast is additionally the nation's third-largest home telephone service provider. It provides services to U.S. residential and commercial customers in 40 states and the District of Columbia. As the owner of the international media company NBCUniversal since 2011, Comcast is also a high-volume producer of feature films for theatrical exhibition and television programming, and a theme park operator. It is the world's third-largest telecommunications company by revenue.
Major film studios are production and distribution companies that release a substantial number of films annually and consistently command the significant share of box office revenue in a given market. In the American and international markets, the major film studios, often known simply as the majors or the Big Five studios, are commonly regarded as the five diversified media conglomerates whose various film production and distribution subsidiaries collectively command approximately 80 to 85% of U.S. box office revenue. The term may also be applied more specifically to the primary motion picture business subsidiary of each respective conglomerate.
Searchlight Pictures, Inc. is an American film production and distribution arm of Walt Disney Studios, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Entertainment division. Founded in 1994 as Fox Searchlight Pictures for 20th Century Fox, the studio focuses primarily on producing, distributing, and acquiring specialty films.
James Rupert Jacob Murdoch is a British-American businessman. He is the younger son of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and the former chief executive officer (CEO) of 21st Century Fox from 2015 to 2019.
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and is headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.
Disney Networks Group Asia Pacific, was a Hong Kong-based commercial broadcasting company operating multiple specialty television channels. The company was founded in 1991 by Hong Kong businessman Richard Li.
Lachlan Keith Murdoch is an Australian businessman and mass media heir. He is the executive chairman of Nova Entertainment, chairman of News Corp, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, and the founder of Australian investment company Illyria Pty Ltd.
Fox Sports Interactive Media, formerly known as News Corp. Digital Media and Fox Interactive Media and Fox Sports Digital Media, is a subsidiary of Fox Sports Media Group which operates Fox Sports' online properties in the United States.
Fox Networks Group (FNG) was the international division of 21st Century Fox. The division oversaw the production and broadcasting of the Fox brands in the United States and internationally. These brands included Fox, Fox Sports, National Geographic, and BabyTV, as well producing and distributing more than 300 entertainment, film, sports and factual channels in 45 languages across Europe, Middle East, Latin America, Africa and Asia, using several brands in those regions. Among their non-linear brands were Fox Play and Fox Plus. These brands reached over 1.725 billion households around the world.
Allen Media Group, alternately known by its former name of Entertainment Studios, Inc. is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved in the production and distribution of first-run television series for U.S. television syndication. Under the Entertainment Studios Networks division, it also operates a group of digital cable and satellite channels, which broadcast a mix of original programs and the company's syndicated content.
Disney Star, formerly known as Star India, is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Disney India, which is the Indian regional subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, Disney Star runs more than 70 television channels in eight languages, reaching out to 9 out of 10 cable and satellite television homes in India. The network reaches approximately 790 million viewers a month across India and more than 100 countries. Disney Star generates more than 30,000 hours of content every year. Disney Star is the largest television and entertainment network in India.
Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc., which did business as 21st Century Fox (21CF), also known simply as Fox, was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was one of the two companies formed on June 28, 2013, following a spin-off of the publishing assets of the old News Corporation as News Corp.
News Corporation, stylized as News Corp, is an American mass media and publishing company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company was formed on June 28, 2013, following a spin-off of the media outlets of the original News Corporation as 21st Century Fox (21CF). Operating across digital real estate information, news media, book publishing, and cable television, News Corp's notable assets include Dow Jones & Company, which is the publisher of The Wall Street Journal, News UK, publisher of The Sun and The Times, News Corp Australia, REA Group, operator of realestate.com.au, realtor.com, and book publisher HarperCollins.
The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition included the 20th Century Fox film and television studios, U.S. cable channels such as FX, Fox Networks Group, a 73% stake in National Geographic Partners, Indian television broadcaster Star India, and a 30% stake in Hulu. Immediately after the acqusition, the holding company of the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business, Fox Sports 1 and 2, Fox Deportes, and the Big Ten Network was renamed Fox Corporation. Other 21st Century Fox assets such as the Fox Sports Networks and Sky were divested and sold off to Sinclair and Comcast, respectively.
The Fox Entertainment Group (FEG) was an American entertainment company specialized in filmed entertainment owned by 21st Century Fox. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the group's assets were dispersed to various Disney units. The film studios 20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Blue Sky Studios were transferred to Walt Disney Studios, while Fox Star Studios transferred to Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International.
The 2019 merger of CBS Corporation and Viacom was announced on August 13, 2019, and was completed on December 4, 2019. The merger of equals reunited CBS Corporation and Viacom into a single company known as ViacomCBS after their separation from the first incarnation of Viacom on December 31, 2005. Both companies were owned by the theater company National Amusements, which remains the owner of the merged entity.