Fox Exec Chair & CEO Lachlan Murdoch said that he "remained confident that both professional and college football would return next month, which is crucial to the bottom line of the media company," according to Flint & Chin of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Fox "relies heavily on sports programming for both its broadcast network" and FS1. Fox yesterday "reported lower profit for its latest quarter, hit by a fall in advertising revenue amid a pandemic-related pullback in live sporting events." Murdoch indicated that the "loss of sports this spring was felt" at FS1, but added that the return of NASCAR and MLB has been "rewarded with strong advertising." Fox said that revenue dropped 3.8% to $2.42B from a year earlier, "hurt by advertising revenue which fell 7.6%." Flint & Chin note Fox' cable-network programming revenue fell 2.2% to $1.27B in the quarter, "mainly as a result of lower advertising revenues from live sporting events." Overall, the company "posted a profit" of $122M for the quarter ending June 30, down from $454M (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 8/5).
