Well, that didn't take long.
Fox has announced that it will be launching a new standalone streaming service by the end of the year. The announcement came in comments made by Fox Executive Chair and Chief Executive Officer Lachlan Murdoch during an earnings call on February 4 (h/t Investing.com). This as-yet-unnamed streaming service would focus on sports and news content according to the earnings call transcript.
Of course, this announcement comes following a flurry of moves in the sports streaming space. First, Hulu + Live TV and Fubo merged after the latter was bought by Disney. This ended a lawsuit Fubo had filed against Venu Sports — a joint venture between Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery — but then Venu swiftly announced that it was closing up shop before ever rolling out to customers.
Once that domino fell, DirecTV announced MySports. This DirecTV Stream streaming package focuses on sports and news only, offering 40 sports channels with more on the way, including eventually adding ESPN Plus to the streaming package for free. It was initially only available in select markets but the beta is now available nationwide via DirecTV's cable alternative.
Now it looks like Fox is taking a page out of DirecTV's book, and is preparing to launch a similar sports and news streaming bundle of its own. Unfortunately, that's about as many details as the earnings called revealed, at least in terms of definitive information.
Regarding the possible price of this new streaming service, Murdoch simply said that Murdoch said that it would be “modest” and that Fox would “price the service accordingly.” That's potentially good news since DirecTV's MySports beta isn't exactly cheap at $69 a month, though right now you can get it for a promotional rate of $49 a month for the first three months after a five-day free trial.
What channels we expect to be included in Fox's new streaming service
While we don't know which channels will definitely be included in this new streaming service, here are the channels that could be included:
- Local Fox affiliates
- Fox News
- FS1
- FS2
- Fox Deportes
- Fox Business
- Fox Soul
- Fox Weather
Additionally, it is possible that Fox could offer the Big Ten Network in its streaming service, a collegiate sports network it currently owns 61% of. It's also possible it could pair with one of its former Venu partners to offer more channels, but given that Fox is currently setting "modest" expectations, I think it will stick to Fox-owned networks.
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