FILE PHOTO: A headline for a story on the health of U.S. President Joe Biden is displayed at the Fox News headquarters in New York City, U.S. March 4, 2023. REUTERS/Chris Helgren/File Photo
(Reuters) - Fox Corp topped Wall Street expectations for quarterly profit and reported a rise in revenue on Tuesday, helped by steady demand for its Tubi streaming service in the United States, sending its shares up nearly 5% in early trading.
The company's revenue for the quarter was helped by a 5% rise in affiliate fee, driven by growth across television and cable network programming segments.
Fox's cable-network programming business, which includes Fox Business Network, Fox Sports 1 and Fox News, logged a 2% rise in revenue to $1.44 billion in the fourth quarter.
The company's total revenue also gained 2% to $3.09 billion, but it was slightly below analysts' estimates of $3.10 billion, according to LSEG.
Fox continues to see momentum in viewership at Tubi, its free ad-supported TV and movie streaming service, CEO Lachlan Murdoch said on a post-earnings call.
Advertising revenue was flat year over year and came in at $1.01 billion in the fourth quarter.
After grappling with muted ad spending, televisions networks in the United States like Fox News stand to win this year from political advertising for the presidential election.
Total political ad spend in the country this year is expected to rise about 27% from 2020 to $12.15 billion, according to a report by research firm eMarketer.
On an adjusted basis, the company earned 90 cents per share, compared with estimates of 81 cents.
Venu Sports, Fox's sports streaming joint venture with Disney and Warner Bros Discovery, is set to launch this fall in the United States at $42.99 per month.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)
