Foxtel hits record sports subscribers, driven by Kayo take-up
Foxtel hits record sports subscribers, driven by extensive coverage of the NRL, AFL and motorsports.
Pay-television and streaming operator Foxtel Group has a record near two million sports subscribers, driven by its extensive coverage of the NRL, AFL and motorsports.
Chief executive Patrick Delany said its streaming service Kayo has more than 600,000 paid subscribers now following the resumption of live sport at the end of May as coronavirus restrictions eased.
That compared with 542,000 paid subscribers as at August 4 when Foxtel’s biggest shareholder, News Corp, provided an update on Kayo’s recent performance, alongside its 2020 financial results.
Together with its core premium Foxtel subscribers, the company has almost two million sports subscribers, Mr Delany told advertising and media buyers via a webcast event on Tuesday.
“With the resumption of live sport on the 28th of May with the NRL leading the way, we had an extraordinary moment, we had a complete rebound with Kayo,” Mr Delany said.
“It‘s now sitting at over 600,000 paid subscribers, which makes it one hell of a sports platform, especially when you add it together with the Foxtel premium platform, we now have close to two million sports subscribers.
“That’s a lot of sports subscribers. The viewing data is also a highlight as we move forward in 2020,” he said.
Foxtel’s NRL audience across its various viewing platforms jumped 15 per cent over the first 18 rounds of the footy season from the same period last year.
Its digital subscribers and their viewership engagement jumped 150 per cent in sport year-on-year, Mr Delany said.
“The AFL was a similar story in terms of ratings growth and the same with digital,” he said.
Foxtel’s motorsports offering of SuperCars, F1 and MotoGP has also proved popular with customers, with audiences up by 35 per cent from last year. Streaming across Foxtel Now, Foxtel Go and Kayo surged 82 per cent.
Foxtel and SuperCars are expected to sign a new broadcasting deal, with racing boss Sean Seamer hinting on the webcast that “some more good news” was coming later this week.
Foxtel counts News Corp, publisher of The Australian, as its major shareholder with a 65 per cent stake, with the rest owned by telecom heavyweight Telstra.
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