Kayo has just passed another milestone. In New York on Thursday night (Friday morning in Australia), News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson revealed the March 31, 2021 numbers for Foxtel and the specific subscriber numbers for its newer streaming services Kayo and Binge.
See also: News Corp reports: Kayo audience doubles, Binge climbs to new high
Later on Friday morning in Sydney Foxtel CEO Patrick Delany joined some of his Foxtel colleagues, including Foxtel Media CEO Mark Frain and Kayo/Binge CEO Julian Ogrin, with a further update.
Foxtel has pushed its Kayo business to the 1m with a relentless marketing campaign driven primarily by News Corp properties around Australia. A combination of the content, strong marketing and special price deals and partnerships has secured a customer list of 1m. How much higher can it go?
Speaking during a virtual presentation, Delany said: “For our advertising partners, there are three important metrics that demonstrate how the Foxtel Group is delivering more reach…more relevance…and more value than ever before.
“First, the Foxtel Group is, by far, Australia’s largest sports platform.
“We reported 2.2 million sports subscribers as at 31 March. And today, there are many more of those subscribers with Kayo’s momentum in recent weeks.
“There is nothing else like this in Australia. Together, Foxtel and Kayo create a sports platform to give you, our advertising partners, extraordinary scale in sports.”
The size of the Foxtel Media reach was likened to a Grand Final or a Melbourne Cup, with Delany pointing out that audience can be reached every weekend. And it’s a premium audience, and it’s growing.
“Second, Kayo is Australia’s largest, fastest-growing sports streaming platform.
“Kayo has long passed 1 million active subscribers. We expect to hit 1 million paid subscribers this weekend.
“Three years ago, we had a bold vision – to bring the quality and breadth of Fox Sports to a new generation of fans by creating Australia’s most connected, digital sports platform.
“It shows the power of a streaming service that aggregates over 50 sports, all in one place.”
Delany said it was a platform created specifically for live sport.
“I can’t emphasize enough how important this is in delivering the experience sports fans expect and providing the digital intelligence that you, our advertising partners, demand – data-driven, addressable advertising on a sports platform with premium reach.
“Third, we are not just a story about sports. We have real growth momentum.”
Patrick Delany with Fox Sport’s Hannah Hollis, Foxtel Media’s Mark Frain and Kayo and Binge’s Julian Ogrin
The total Foxtel Group audience had climbed to 3.54m at the end of March, up 21% on the prior year. Delany said the growth and repositioning as a diversified digital entertainment company shows it had reinvented itself.
“Today, we are fundamentally different from the 2017 business that was based on a cable and satellite platform with linear channels.
“We have two differentiated, fast-growing, retail streaming brands in Binge and Kayo. Foxtel now has 70% of its customers with an IP-capable set-top box.
“And with the iQ5, we want to see all of our remaining customers move to IP. This will complete another step in Foxtel’s evolution into Australia’s premium digital entertainment platform.
“Having once been known as a national subscription TV channel business, our digital scale now allows us to offer state-based scale, and targeting, to our high-value paying customers.”
Foxtel’s Delany then shared some detail about audience growth in 2021:
“In NRL, we have had an outstanding start to the 2021 season with average audiences for rounds 1 to 8, up 13% year on last year, making 2021 the number one rated NRL season ever for the Foxtel Group.
“This year the AFL has also performed strongly. Average audiences for the first seven rounds are up 17% on 2019 – ranking the 2021 Season along with 2020 as the highest rating AFL seasons ever for the Foxtel Group.
“We have delivered this to our advertising partners at a time free to air is struggling in live sport.
“Audiences for women’s sport are also continuing to grow. The AFLW 2021 season was up 19% on 2019 and up 3% on the shortened 46-game 2020 season.”