Foxtel is in strife as it continues to struggle with growing debt, revealing it’s set to cut costs to its non-marquee sporting content and increase its subscription prices.
Yesterday morning, News Corp disclosed the financial woes of the struggling provider to the ASX as it tries to refinance Foxtel with a total debt of $US1.68 billion ($AU2.42b).
The ASX announcement revealed that Foxtel lost $417 million in the 2018 calendar year, excluding a $120 million tax benefit.
Earlier this week, B&T reported News Corp was injecting $300 million into Foxtel to ease its debt.
And now, Foxtel is said to be considering cutting its spend on “non-marquee sporting content” although it didn’t specify which sports, as well as job cuts to ad-selling unit MCN.
The document also revealed Foxtel management is “reviewing the pricing of its various programming packages, including potential price increases for certain tiers.”
Foxtel only recently raised its subscription prices in September 2018.
The ASX document revealed subscription revenue continues to spell trouble for the ailing TV provider, revealing revenue was down to $2.75 billion for the calendar year, compared to $2.87 billion for the year ending June 30. Ad revenue is also on the decline, while programming costs have grown to more than $1.6 billion for the 2018 calendar year.
