News Corp CEO Robert Thomson hails Foxtel’s streaming transformation

Robert Thomson has heralded the decision to reshape Foxtel as a next-generation subscription service as a “monumental moment” for the pay-TV platform.

News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson. Picture: AFP

News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson has heralded the decision to reshape Foxtel as a next-generation subscription service as a “monumental moment” for the pay-TV platform, after its strong performance in the December quarter.

“Let’s consider how the Foxtel narrative has changed, with questions we’ve been asked a couple of quarters ago … whether we would need to put extra capital in Foxtel. And the truth is that the successful development of the business has given us real options,” Mr Thomson said on an investor call, referencing the company’s streaming services Kayo and Binge.

Handing down the media major’s second-quarter results on Friday — which was the company’s most profitable quarter in seven years — Mr Thomson cited Foxtel’s 90 per cent increase in its streaming customers over the quarter as evidence of the ­“transformation” of the pay-TV service.

At the end of December Foxtel’s total closing paid subscribers were 3.314 million, a 12 per cent lift compared with the prior year.

“In the past, there had been scepticism about whether we could transition from our reliance on traditional broadcast, but those concerns have proven unfounded and Foxtel is now a company with a diverse portfolio and much momentum,” Mr Thomson said.

The CEO’s comments came just days after Foxtel’s Kayo Sports and Telstra signed a landmark deal that will give the telco’s customers access to top-tier sporting events on Kayo at a heavily discounted price.

Patrick Delany, the chief executive of the Foxtel Group, said the deal was aimed at the burgeoning “streaming generation”, which is consuming sport in “ever-evolving ways”.

“Kayo is made for the streaming generation, which is on the boil and moving,” Mr Delany said last week.

Mr Thomson said the number of customers who sign up to the Kayo offer would be made public in the next quarter’s results.