What happens to Sky News Australia now Foxtel has been sold?
While the rest of the media industry attempted to find some peace and quiet after a hectic year, News Corp had one last surprise in store for 2024: the sale of Foxtel Group to British sports streaming company DAZN (pronounced “da-zone”) in a deal worth $3.4 billion. It brings to an end three decades of cable television dominance for News Corp, which held 65% of Foxtel Group, with Telstra owning the other 35%.
While DAZN is primarily a sports streaming company with interests in gambling and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), there are a number of non-sporting assets included in the deal, including streaming services Binge and Flash.
Foxtel’s biggest non-sport channel, Sky News Australia, was not included in the sale to DAZN. But there are questions about the future of the conservative news channel, home to the likes of Andrew Bolt, Rita Panahi and Sharri Markson, with the decade-long licensing deal for the name “Sky News” set to expire in late 2025 or 2026.
A Foxtel spokesperson told Crikey that “Sky News Australia remains 100% owned by News Corp Australia, a subsidiary of News Corp, and is not part of the proposed sale. It will continue as an important and popular news channel on the Foxtel service.” (The channel is also available on free-to-air television in regional areas via Southern Cross Austereo and WIN Television.)
The spokesperson also said that the “long-standing partnership between Foxtel Group … and Sky News Australia will continue regardless of Foxtel Group’s ownership.”
“Sky News Australia will remain a crucial part of the offering under Foxtel Group’s proposed new ownership. Sky News Australia’s programs on Foxtel will continue to be produced in the same way as they have been for the past 30 years,” they said.
Sky News Australia, while founded as a co-venture between British Sky Broadcasting (now Sky Ltd, a division of Comcast), Seven West and Nine Entertainment, was purchased wholesale by News Corp in 2016, retaining the Sky name under a licensing agreement. The Australian Financial Review reports that “Fox News Australia” is one of a number of possible alternative names being considered.
The spokesperson confirmed that Fox Sports News is included in the proposed sale, despite being produced by Sky News Australia and broadcast from News Corp Australia’s Surry Hills office rather than Foxtel’s Artarmon office. Sources who spoke to Crikey said there remains a degree of uncertainty among Fox Sports staff over the future of the organisation — and their jobs.
DAZN, backed by Ukrainian-born British-American billionaire Len Blavatnik, will take over Foxtel Group, refinance Foxtel’s debt, and pay off Telstra’s loans to the company. It will also provide News Corp and Telstra with 6% and 3% equity interests in DAZN, respectively. News Corp will also gain a seat on DAZN’s board of directors.
Blavatnik is one of the world’s richest men, having made his fortune in the privatisation of former Soviet state assets, particularly in metal and energy, at the end of the Cold War. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that his financial input into DAZN has been slowly waning, with potential additional backers including the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
Reports to that effect have, however, been denied by the fund, which already invests in a number of sporting and entertainment IPs and events. These include four clubs in the Saudi Pro League (home to megastar footballers Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar); ATP tennis finals; Formula One races; major cricket events; and the LIV Golf tour, which hosts an annual event in Adelaide every year and counts legendary former Australian golfer Greg Norman as its CEO.
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