Foxtel’s new streaming services Binge and Kayo have helped drive the company’s total subscribers up by 40% during the 2021 financial year.
Parent company News Corp reported US$9.36 billion in revenue for the full financial year, up 4% compared to the year prior. Revenue was up 30% for the fourth quarter to US$2.49 billion.
Revenue for its Subscription Video Services, which is primarily made up of Foxtel’s products, reached US$2.07 billion for the year, up 10%. Revenue for the quarter was up 33% to US$542 million.
Foxtel’s total closing paid subscribers was 3.891 million, up 40%.
"We also saw record subscriber growth at Foxtel, where, at the end of June, our paid streaming subscribers reached over 2 million, an increase year-on-year of 155 percent,” says chief executive Robert Thomson.
“That sterling performance has clearly given us much optionality as we consider Foxtel’s future, which is certainly bright, given that revenues rose 33 percent in the Fourth Quarter."
Of its total subscribers, 1.885 million were residential and commercial broadcast subscribers.
The remaining 2.006 million were Kayo, Binge, and Foxtel Now subscribers.
There were 1.079 million Kayo subscribers, 1.054 million paying, compared to 465,000 subscribers, 419,000 paying, the prior year, as of June 30, 2021.
Binge had 827,000 subscribers, 733,000 paying, as of June 30. This is compared to 80,000 subscribers, 56,000 paying, in the prior year.
Foxtel Now had 228,000 subscribers, 219,000 paying, as of June 30. This is compared to 336,000 subscribers, 313,000 paying, in the prior year.
Broadcast subscriber churn was 17.1% in the quarter, compared to 13.2% in the prior year. Foxtel says this was due to fewer promotions, the roll-off of lower value subscribers, as well as various measures implemented due to COVID-19 last year.
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