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Tag: Fox Business Network

  • 21st CF spins-off into new live news & sports co Fox

    21st CF spins-off into new live news & sports co Fox

    MUMBAI: After the blockbuster acquisition of 21st Century Fox by The Walt Disney Company, the former has announced that it will spinoff into a new brand Fox’ that will seek to replicate its own success in the newly focussed verticals of live news and sports brands.

    Using fiscal 2017 as a base, the new Fox is expected to have annual revenue of $10 billion and EBITDA of $2.8 billion. The company will have an investment grade balance sheet conservatively levered with a maximum of $9 billion of new gross debt or under 3 times net leverage on day one.

    Fox will hold iconic branded properties Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Sports, Fox Television Stations Group, and sports cable networks FS1, FS2, Fox Deportes and Big Ten Network (BTN). It will also include the company’s studio lot in Los Angeles and equity investment in Roku.

    This new entity will own the top cable news channel in the US and the most-watched business news channel, as well as a station group, which is present in nine out of the 10 largest metro areas. Under sports, it holds the rights for NFL, MLB, World Cup Soccer and NASCAR.

    Fox will have a strong financial profile, supported by peer-leading growth and differentiated free cash flow generation, and will be positioned to continue to deliver consistent growth driven by affiliate rate increases, retransmission growth and strong advertising demand for its live content and entertainment product.

    21st Century Fox executive chairman Rupert Murdoch said: “The new Fox will draw upon the powerful live news and sports businesses of Fox, as well as the strength of our broadcast network. It is born out of an important lesson I’ve learned in my long career in media: namely, content and news relevant to viewers will always be valuable. We are excited by the possibilities of the new Fox, which is already a leader many times over.”

    The remaining business of the company has been combined with Disney in a $52.4 billion acquisition including all its film and TV studios, cable entertainment networks and international TV business. Disney will also acquire FX Networks, Fox Sports Regional Networks, Fox Networks Group International, Star India, and 21st Century Fox’s interests in National Geographic Partners, Hulu, Sky, Tata Sky and Endemol Shine Group.

    Murdoch said that the deals are crucial to paving way for a new Fox and a better Disney. “We have always made a commitment to deliver more choices for customers; provide great storytelling, objective news, challenging opinion and compelling sports. Through today’s announcements, we are proud to recommit to that promise and enable our shareholders to benefit for years to come through ownership of two of the world’s most iconic, relevant, and dynamic media companies. They will each continue to be leaders in creating the very best experiences for consumers.”

    The spin-off transaction will be taxable to 21st Century Fox, but not to its shareholders.  The new Fox will receive a step-up in its tax basis commensurate with the amount of the corporate tax relating to the spin-off that will generate annual cash tax savings over the next 15 years.

    Following the spin-off, Fox expects to continue to pay shareholders a strong regular dividend, with the initial rate to be determined prior to the completion of the spin-off. Prior to completion of the spin-off, new Fox will pay an $8.5 billion cash dividend to 21st Century Fox, representing an estimate of such tax liability. If the final tax liability of 21st Century Fox is less than such amount, the first $2 billion of that adjustment will be made by a net reduction in the amount of the cash dividend to 21st Century Fox from new Fox. The amount of such tax liabilities will depend on several factors, including tax rates in effect at the time of closing as well as market values of Fox following the closing.

    Upon closing of the spin-off transaction, 21st Century Fox’s shareholders would receive one share of common stock in new Fox for each same class 21st Century Fox share currently held.  Following the separation, new Fox would maintain two classes of common stock: Class A Common and Class B Common Voting Shares. Details of the spin-off transaction distribution will be included in the registration statement that will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

    As part of the definitive agreement with Disney announced today, 21st Century Fox shareholders will receive 0.2745 Disney shares for each 21st Century Fox share in the merger.  The per share consideration is subject to adjustment up or down for certain tax liabilities arising from the spinoff and other transactions related to the acquisition. Terms of the transaction call for Disney to issue approximately 515 million new shares to 21st Century Fox shareholders, representing approximately a 25 percent stake in Disney on a pro forma basis. The transaction values the merged 21st Century Fox business at $28 per share using a reference Disney share price of $102 and at nearly $30 per share based on Disney’s closing share price on December 13, 2017. This equates to a total enterprise value of approximately $69 billion.

    The merger is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory and shareholder approval.

    Combining with Disney are 21st Century Fox’s critically acclaimed film production businesses including Twentieth Century Fox, Fox Searchlight and Fox 2000, which together offer diverse and compelling storytelling businesses and are the homes of Avatar, X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool, as well as The Grand Budapest Hotel, Hidden Figures, Gone Girl, The Shape of Water, and The Martian– and its storied television creative units, Twentieth Century Fox Television, FX Productions and Fox21, who have brought The Americans, This Is Us, Modern Family, The Simpsons, and so many more hit TV series to viewers across the globe.

    New Fox Assets

    Fox News Channel (FNC): 24-hour all-encompassing news service dedicated to delivering breaking news as well as political and business news. FNC has been the number one cable news channel in the country for 63 straight quarters, and more recently has been the top basic cable network.  FNC is available in approximately 90 million homes and dominates the cable news landscape, routinely notching the top ten programs in the genre.

    Fox Broadcasting Company (FOX): Home to some of the highest-rated and most acclaimed series on television as well as the most sought after sports properties, it is viewed by nearly 100 million households each month, airing 15 hours of primetime programming a week, as well as major sporting events and Sunday morning news.  Through the Fox Now app, Fox viewers can watch full episodes of their favourite Fox shows on a variety of digital platforms, while enjoying enhanced interactive and social capabilities around those shows.

    Fox Business Network (FBN): Financial news channel delivering real-time information across all platforms that impact both Main Street and Wall Street, Fox Business Network has been the number one business network for four consecutive quarters. FBN launched in October 2007 and is available in more than 80 million homes in major markets across the United States. The network has bureaus in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, DC and London.

    FOX Television Stations Group: One of the nation’s largest owned-and-operated network broadcast groups, comprising 28 stations in 17 markets and covering over 37 per cent of US television homes. This includes a presence in nine out of the 10 largest metro areas in the US including seven duopolies in the top 10 markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington, DC and Houston; as well as duopolies in Phoenix, Minneapolis, Orlando and Charlotte. 

    FS1 and FS2: FS1 is a popular sports cable network launched in 2013 in approximately 90 million homes boasting nearly 5,000 hours of live event, news and original programming annually. FS1 has several pillar sports: college basketball and football, MLB, NASCAR, NFL (ancillary programs), international soccer, Bundesliga, UFC, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) and USGA. Major events televised on FS1 include the US Open, MLB Postseason, the FIFA 2018 and 2022 World Cup and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2019. FS2 was founded in 2013 and is focused on extreme sports, including skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, motocross, surfing, mixed martial arts, BMX and FMX. FS2 is available in approximately 50 million homes.

    Big Ten Network: The first internationally distributed network dedicated to covering America’s most storied collegiate conferences. Covering over 1,000 sporting events each year, including football, basketball, Olympic sports and championship events and award-winning original programming, in-depth studio analysis and classic games. The network is in approximately 50 million homes across the United States and Canada, including carriage by all the major video distributors.

    Also read:

    With Star India, Disney emerges as India’s largest M&E firm

    Disney to buy 21st Century Fox assets for $52.4 billion

    Disney expected to announce 21 CF buyout tomorrow: media reports

    Now, Comcast in talks to buy 21st Century Fox

     

  • 21st Century Fox buys out Sky in USD 14.8-bn deal

    21st Century Fox buys out Sky in USD 14.8-bn deal

    MUMBAI: 21st Century Fox has stated that Sky had agreed to a takeover offer worth USD 14.8 billion as the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch attempts to create a global media giant stretch across the U.K., U.S, and Europe.

    21st Century Fox is one of the world’s largest entertainment companies, with a broad portfolio of broadcast, cable, pay TV, film, and satellite assets across six continents.

    Fox group said in a statement that it had reached an agreement with Sky plc on the terms of a recommended pre-conditional cash offer to buy the rest of the European pay broadcaster, beyond the 39 per cent it already owns. The deal is worth USD 14.8 billion (Rs 1004 billion) in total for the cash purchase, the statement said. The terms of the formal offer, Sky News stated, would mean Fox paying 10.75 pounds per Sky share, for the remainder 61% of Sky.

    The new deal will create an improved balance between affiliate fee, subscription, advertising and content revenues.

    Fox’ cable and broadcasting properties include include STAR India, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FOX, National Geographic Channels, 28 television stations in the U.S and over 300 international channels.

  • 21st Century Fox buys out Sky in USD 14.8-bn deal

    21st Century Fox buys out Sky in USD 14.8-bn deal

    MUMBAI: 21st Century Fox has stated that Sky had agreed to a takeover offer worth USD 14.8 billion as the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch attempts to create a global media giant stretch across the U.K., U.S, and Europe.

    21st Century Fox is one of the world’s largest entertainment companies, with a broad portfolio of broadcast, cable, pay TV, film, and satellite assets across six continents.

    Fox group said in a statement that it had reached an agreement with Sky plc on the terms of a recommended pre-conditional cash offer to buy the rest of the European pay broadcaster, beyond the 39 per cent it already owns. The deal is worth USD 14.8 billion (Rs 1004 billion) in total for the cash purchase, the statement said. The terms of the formal offer, Sky News stated, would mean Fox paying 10.75 pounds per Sky share, for the remainder 61% of Sky.

    The new deal will create an improved balance between affiliate fee, subscription, advertising and content revenues.

    Fox’ cable and broadcasting properties include include STAR India, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FOX, National Geographic Channels, 28 television stations in the U.S and over 300 international channels.

  • Roger Ailes steps down as Fox News chairman & CEO

    Roger Ailes steps down as Fox News chairman & CEO

    MUMBAI: The Murdoch family-promoted 21st Century Fox has announced Roger Ailes has stepped down as chairman and CEO of Fox News and resigned from Fox Business Network and Fox Television Stations, effective immediately.

    Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman of 21st Century Fox, will assume the role of Chairman and acting CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network.

    It’s a stunning fall for Ailes, a long time political operative and Murdoch ally, who is credited with building Fox News and leading the cable channel to ratings dominance.

    In a statement released to the media last week, Rupert Murdoch said: “I am personally committed to ensuring that Fox News remains a distinctive, powerful voice. Our nation (the US) needs a robust Fox News to resonate from every corner of the country.”

    Murdoch will be assisted in running the Fox businesses by existing management team under Bill Shine, Jay Wallace and Mark Kranz.
    Ailes, 76, was in the eye of the storm having been accused of sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed earlier this month by former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson.

    Though Ailes has vigorously denied Carlson’s claims, Fox News launched an internal investigation. The developments, critics and media observers claim, was a result of public and political pressure and perception.

    “Roger Ailes has made a remarkable contribution to our company and our country. Roger shared my vision of a great and independent television organization and executed it brilliantly over 20 great years,” the company statement quoted Murdoch as saying.

    In a letter to Murdoch, released by a publicist, Ailes said, “I am proud of our accomplishments and look forward to continuing to work with you as an adviser in building 21st Century Fox.”

    “We join our father in recognizing Roger’s remarkable contributions to our company,” a joint statement from Murdoch’s two sons, Lachlan and James, said. The sons are in charge in charge of Fox News.
    Ailes began his television career in the early 1960s as a producer at The Mike Douglas Show in Cleveland, and went onto serve as media consultant for several Republican presidents, including Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

    “I take particular pride in the role that I have played advancing the careers of the many women I have promoted to executive and on-air positions,” Ailes wrote in the letter to Murdoch, adding that many of these talented journalists have deservedly become household names known for their intelligence and strength whether reporting the news, fair and balanced, and offering exciting opinions on opinion programmes.

    In his defence, Ailes further stated in the letter that Fox News has become No. 1 in all of cable because he “identified and promoted the most talented men and women in television, and they performed at the highest levels.”

    In 1996, Murdoch, seeing a market for a conservative cable news outlet, hired Ailes to create Fox News. And Ailes moulded the network to run like a political campaign operation with primetime shows that were unabashedly conservative and hosts who openly espoused Republican talking points.

    The network eventually unseated CNN as the highest rated cable news network and became one of the most popular cable networks of all genres, reaching more than 90 million households.

    “It is always difficult to create a channel or a publication from the ground up and against seemingly entrenched monopolies,” Murdoch Sr. said, adding, “To lead a flourishing news channel, and to build Fox Business, Roger has defied the odds.”

  • Roger Ailes steps down as Fox News chairman & CEO

    Roger Ailes steps down as Fox News chairman & CEO

    MUMBAI: The Murdoch family-promoted 21st Century Fox has announced Roger Ailes has stepped down as chairman and CEO of Fox News and resigned from Fox Business Network and Fox Television Stations, effective immediately.

    Rupert Murdoch, Executive Chairman of 21st Century Fox, will assume the role of Chairman and acting CEO of Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network.

    It’s a stunning fall for Ailes, a long time political operative and Murdoch ally, who is credited with building Fox News and leading the cable channel to ratings dominance.

    In a statement released to the media last week, Rupert Murdoch said: “I am personally committed to ensuring that Fox News remains a distinctive, powerful voice. Our nation (the US) needs a robust Fox News to resonate from every corner of the country.”

    Murdoch will be assisted in running the Fox businesses by existing management team under Bill Shine, Jay Wallace and Mark Kranz.
    Ailes, 76, was in the eye of the storm having been accused of sexual harassment in a lawsuit filed earlier this month by former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson.

    Though Ailes has vigorously denied Carlson’s claims, Fox News launched an internal investigation. The developments, critics and media observers claim, was a result of public and political pressure and perception.

    “Roger Ailes has made a remarkable contribution to our company and our country. Roger shared my vision of a great and independent television organization and executed it brilliantly over 20 great years,” the company statement quoted Murdoch as saying.

    In a letter to Murdoch, released by a publicist, Ailes said, “I am proud of our accomplishments and look forward to continuing to work with you as an adviser in building 21st Century Fox.”

    “We join our father in recognizing Roger’s remarkable contributions to our company,” a joint statement from Murdoch’s two sons, Lachlan and James, said. The sons are in charge in charge of Fox News.
    Ailes began his television career in the early 1960s as a producer at The Mike Douglas Show in Cleveland, and went onto serve as media consultant for several Republican presidents, including Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.

    “I take particular pride in the role that I have played advancing the careers of the many women I have promoted to executive and on-air positions,” Ailes wrote in the letter to Murdoch, adding that many of these talented journalists have deservedly become household names known for their intelligence and strength whether reporting the news, fair and balanced, and offering exciting opinions on opinion programmes.

    In his defence, Ailes further stated in the letter that Fox News has become No. 1 in all of cable because he “identified and promoted the most talented men and women in television, and they performed at the highest levels.”

    In 1996, Murdoch, seeing a market for a conservative cable news outlet, hired Ailes to create Fox News. And Ailes moulded the network to run like a political campaign operation with primetime shows that were unabashedly conservative and hosts who openly espoused Republican talking points.

    The network eventually unseated CNN as the highest rated cable news network and became one of the most popular cable networks of all genres, reaching more than 90 million households.

    “It is always difficult to create a channel or a publication from the ground up and against seemingly entrenched monopolies,” Murdoch Sr. said, adding, “To lead a flourishing news channel, and to build Fox Business, Roger has defied the odds.”

  • Lou Dobbs joins Fox Business Network

    Lou Dobbs joins Fox Business Network

    MUMBAI: Exactly after a year he quit CNN on 11 November 2009, anchor Lou Dobbs has joined Fox Business Network. He will host and develop a daily television show that will start early next year.

    At CNN, he was termed as one of the most influential anchors in business journalism after his show Moneyline drew the attention of viewers in the 1990s. After spending nearly three decades at the network, Dobbs quit.

    His views denouncing illegal immigration and challenging President Barack Obama to produce his birth certificate made him a focus of political controversy. On CNN‘s request, Dobbs tried to tone things down but after he was unsuccessful, he quit.

    After quitting the network, Dobbs hosted a weekday syndicated radio show. He was also considering running for political office.
     

  • News Corp to launch Fox Business Network on 15 October

    MUMBAI: News Corp. will launch Fox Business Network (FBN) on 15 October in a bid to rival business cable channels CNBC and Bloomberg Television, a company statement said.

    To be headquartered in New York with established news bureaus in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington and London, FBN has secured distribution agreements with leading U.S. cable operators including Comcast and Time Warner cable. This is expected to provide the network with at least 30 million subscribers, when it debuts.
    News Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch had previously said it would launch the business channel in the fourth quarter, but did not provide a date.

    FBN “will look and feel different”, with more emphasis on entertainment than mere market coverage. The past several months have been spent designing the channel under the eye of senior vice president Fox News veteran Brian Jones.

    Jones reports to Fox News executive VP Kevin McGee who will manage the day-to-day operations of FBN.

    Currently, Murdoch is in the midst of talks on a $5 billion offer for Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones & Co. The deal would provide the new FBN with reporting staff and content from one of the most respected business newspapers.

    However, if the deal is through, a content sharing deal between rival CNBC and the Journal that is active till 2012, is expected to complicate any possible synergies between FBN and the Journal.