Foxtel Revenue Drops After Presto Closure

Foxtel, which is believed to be trialing the use of virtual reality technology as exclusively reported by ChannelNews, has reported a downturn in revenue and nil income in the third quarter.

News Corp attributed the nil income, which was down from US$32 million a year earlier, to losses from the closure of Presto in January valued at US$21 million, as well as a US$14 million loss in value for Foxtel’s stake in the Ten Network.

Subscribers were also reported to be lower compared to a year ago, down by 1% for a total of 2.8 million as of March 31.

Revenue for Foxtel fell by 3% in local currency, but increased on a US GAAP basis by 2% to US$591 million. EBITDA decreased by 9% to US$131 million during the period (or 13% in local currency) due to “lower revenues and planned increases in programming costs, specifically investments in sports” according to News Corp.

Overall, News Corp reported US$1.98 billion in revenue for the quarter, up by 5% year-on-year.