Earlier this year, Fox’s attempt to partner with Disney and Warner Bros. to create a sports streaming service died before it began. Venu never really existed, but everyone knows that there is little we can do to stop the expansion of Fox or the Murdoch family’s wealth. (Seriously, who expands a print tabloid in the year 2025?) Within the next month, the world will know the awesome and terrifying power of Fox One.
Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, son of Rupert, detailed the plan during an earning’s call this morning, per The Hollywood Reporter. Fox One is set to launch on August 21, allowing it to be present for Big Noon Saturday, the regular NFL season, and the MLB playoffs. It will cost $20 per month, making it one of the more expensive services. Even Peacock, which just raised prices to accommodate live sports, still caps out without commercials at $16.99 per month. But this one’s got other shows and Fox News in it, so maybe Gutfeld! is worth $3 extra per month to some college football fans out there.
Interestingly, the streamer is not targeting “cord-cutters” but so-called “cord-nevers,” as in a demographic that has never subscribed to pay TV. Though not said explicitly, this likely means a younger segment of the audience who grew up as streaming supplanted cable. Across the board, streaming platforms are increasingly mimicking what premium cable looked like, with both HBO Max and Peacock incorporating live sports and news into their programming. Fox One sounds similarly like premium cable, except it’s all Fox. The future we live in is really something!
