Foxtel’s streaming services Kayo, Binge surge but Flash underwhelms
News Corp’s Flash platform has attracted about 7000 paying subscribers since it launched last October, casting further doubt over consumer demand for news-based streaming services.
The Rupert Murdoch controlled media giant revealed in a quarterly earnings update on Friday that subscribers to its standalone streaming services in Australia had surpassed subscribers to Foxtel-branded products, for the first time.
But despite strong growth for Kayo Sports and entertainment focused Binge, its third service, news-based Flash, appears to have failed to gain traction with audiences.
News Corp launched Flash with much fanfare, giving all its Australian newspaper subscribers three months free access, but Flash has not demonstrated the strong opening audiences and growth of the media giant’s other streaming platforms.
News Corp said it has 4.338 million paying subscribers to its services, including Flash. The 4.338 million consists of 1.762 million residential subscribers to its traditional Foxtel service and 206,000 to Foxtel Now, 1.151 million paying subscribers to Kayo Sports and 1.305 million paying subscribers to Binge.
While Flash’s figures were not specified, the table provided to investors implies it has 16,500 total users and just 7,000 paying subscribers. These figures were provided to Foxtel and not disputed.
It’s a news service, not entertainment. News seems to be a slightly more challenging category.
The tepid take-up of Flash comes after global media giant WarnerMedia launched and shut down news streaming service CNN+ in the United States after just one month in a move that shocked that country’s media industry.
Flash, which launched in October last year, streams more than 25 local and global news channels, including CNN, Al Jazeera, Sky News and Fox News.
Subscription analyst Nick Cherrier, from software company Zoura, said Foxtel was pulling off a successful digital transformation, with Kayo and Binge growing strongly and set to replace its traditional Foxtel product, which is in decline. However, he said the performance of Flash was “not impressive”.
“It’s a news service, not entertainment,” said Cherrier. “News seems to be a slightly more challenging category.”
Flash insiders insist Foxtel is happy with its progress, saying it attracts a different, professional audience. It is considered an important compliment to the other “single-genre” services Foxtel provides.
News Corp has heavily promoted Flash, and in particular its first globally syndicated program, Piers Morgan Uncensored, which launched last week and was available to watch on Sky News Australia, Flash and other News Corp-affiliated networks in the US, UK and Europe.
“You can tell there is some strategy here,” said prominent media analyst Steve Allen, director of strategy and research and Pearman Media.
“It certainly suggests to me that this is the first move of many in a push for a CNN-type global news service.”
Uncensored debuted with strong ratings on Sky News Australia when it launched at the end of April, attracting 86,000 pay television viewers with an interview with Donald Trump. But by the end of its first week on Sky News, it failed to rate in the top 20 pay television programs. It is not known how many people accessed the program via Flash.
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