It is now clear that if the Russian invasion of Ukraine had not killed the IPO market, Foxtel chief executive Patrick Delany would be poised to start a global roadshow to spruik the stock to investors.
“In 2018, Foxtel was predominantly an old pay TV company that was left behind by technology,” he says. Five years ago, Netflix was viewed by Foxtel as the enemy. Now it is available on the Foxtel platform and is viewed as a partner.Now he can boast of a full year of revenue growth in 2022, albeit only up 1 per cent to $US2.08 billion .
Streaming subscribers now represent 61 per cent of Foxtel’s total paid subscriber base of 4.4 million, with the big winner being Kayo Sports. Some of its audience numbers have been impressive, including an NRL match in May between Melbourne Storm and Penrith that attracted 600,000 viewers.