Fox co-Exec Chair Rupert Murdoch officially sold the 21st Century Fox assets to Disney, and has now formed a "new company" known simply as Fox Corp., according to Meg James of the L.A. TIMES. The "freshly minted company unveiled its board members" which include Murdoch and F1 CEO Chase Carey. The new Fox is now a "standalone, publicly traded company." Its assets include Fox News Channel; Fox Business Network; FS1 and FS2; the Fox Broadcasting network; and Fox’ group of television stations. The reconfigured Fox Corp. will "emphasize live programming," with NFL primetime games on Thursday nights and WWE’s "Smackdown" on Fridays (L.A. TIMES, 3/20).
KEEPING UP: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Szalai & Bond wrote the official debut of Fox Corp. comes amid "both bullishness and some skepticism on Wall Street." Beyond keeping Fox News a "driving force, the new company must focus on FS1 and FS2 to keep pace with Disney's ESPN." Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier, who was hired in October, said that he "has one mandate from his new bosses, which is 'to win.'" He added of Fox' schedule next year, "It will certainly include baseball, wrestling and football. It is a bit of a fool's errand to run at football and think you can move that audience over to entertainment programming. What you can do is expose them to things that hopefully attract them to hopefully put on their entertainment viewer mindset and come to them" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 3/19).
A DEEPER LOOK: NBC News' Dylan Byers writes Fox' focus will now be on "live events, including news, sports and unscripted reality shows." It "launches with the Fox News cash cow and rights to highly coveted sports events" like "TNF," the World Series and WWE Smackdown (BYERS MARKET, 3/20). NBCNEWS.com's Claire Atkinson noted Fox' domestic and cable sports business will account for 86% of the "new company's earnings" (NBCNEWS.com, 3/19). CNN.com's Brian Lowry noted the assets that Fox keeps "provide a leaner, more focused entity" (CNN.com, 3/19). VANITY FAIR's Gabriel Sherman writes inside Fox, staffers believe that co-Exec Chair Lachlan Murdoch is "likely to nudge the network in a less pro-Trump direction." Sherman: "Is this the first step in a larger strategy to sell the newly spun-off company?" (VANITYFAIR.com, 3/20). The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER's Szalai & Bond noted analysts have been "bullish or neutral on the outlook for the new Fox Corporation, which, now that the sale has been completed, will focus on U.S. news and sports more so than entertainment programming" (HOLLYWOODREPORTER.com, 3/19).
