Foxtel’s chief executive Patrick Delany says the company’s ‘disruptive’ streaming services give it the edge over competitors to successfully navigate the increasingly over-saturated market.
Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age after the group’s strategy day on Thursday, Mr Delany said Foxtel had pivoted from expanding the traditional cable TV brand to focusing on new streaming platforms to drive growth with Kayo Sports, BINGE and its recently announced live news aggregation service Flash.
Flash will launch in mid-October with more than 20 local and international news sources to be streamed by the service. “It’s designed to be an aggregator that doesn’t have a view on politics or economics,” Mr Delany said.
Flash’s live news channels will include CNN, CNBC, BBC and Fox News, as well as local players including News Corp’s Sky News. It will run in a similar way to Kayo Sports, which hosts live-streaming channels as well as small clips of particular programs or events. But according to Foxtel sources, who weren’t authorised to speak, the company plans to extend the content to other local news players.
Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany says the group’s strategy will continue to be a successful way to grow.
At the strategy Foxtel said it had added more than 1 million subscribers over the past year taking it to 4 million, with more than 50 per cent of these subscribers joining for the group’s new streaming products. The group, which is jointly owned by News Corp and Telstra, reported $2.8 billion in total revenue in FY21, with an EBITDA of $460 million.
The company said it was aiming for 5 million subscribers and $3 billion in revenue within the next three years. It will retain its current strategy of expanding streaming and strengthening content and technology to reach these targets.
Morningstar analyst Brian Han said while he thought the revenue and capex targets could be achieved he wasn’t convinced Foxtel could attract 5 million subscribers.
“It’s dependent on what the industry structure will look like in three years’ time”, Mr Han said.
“If you don’t think the streaming industry has reached competitive equilibrium, then all other variables are in flux, and it’s not clear if consumers will churn from one platform to another.”
