Amid growing concerns about the potential for artificial intelligence technologies to disrupt the 2024 election with fake video, images and other misinformation, Fox Corporation has publicly released an open source beta version of Verify, an AI content protocol that allows users to verify the source of a content. 

The tool also can be used by Fox and other media companies to register content and negotiate rights with AI tech providers for access to their content. That would potentially open up lucrative opportunities for Fox and other media companies to license vast library of sports, news and other content to companies who might want to use the content to train and develop AI technologies. 

Verify was developed in-house by the Fox Technology team and is built on Polygon PoS. Researchers at Polygon Labs have been building core blockchain infrastructure that can transparently prove authenticity.

Fox Corp launched a closed beta of Verify on August 23, coinciding with the first Fox News GOP debate. To date, 89,000 pieces of content, spanning text and images, have been signed to Verify, from Fox News, Fox Business, Fox Sports, and Fox TV affiliates.

Now, the protocol has been open sourced, allowing the public to contribute to and fork the source code, Polygon Labs reported in a blog post. Media companies can access the tool at Verify while consumers use the Verify Tool to confirm origination of digital content from participating Fox sources. 

Using the technology, users can determine if an article or image that purportedly comes from a publisher in fact originated at the source. 

Additionally, Verify establishes a technical bridge between media companies and AI platforms. With its Verified Access Point, Verify creates new commercial opportunities for content owners by utilizing smart contracts to set programmatic conditions for access to content, Polygon Labs reported. 

NEW YORK—Fox Corporation’s Q1, 2024 earnings report and call with analysts saw the company report notable growth in its streaming service Tubi and increases in affiliate fee revenue for its TV segment, which includes the Fox-owned local TV stations, despite cord cutting and the ongoing decline of pay TV subscriptions. 

While advertising declined by 2%, the company reported that sports helped boost overall viewing of the Fox brands by 2%.

Revenue for the quarter and earnings per share generally beat analyst expectations. 

In the earnings call with analysts, Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair and CEO said that “with total viewing of FOX brands up 2% in the quarter. Fox Sports was a big driver of that consumption especially, with its broadcast of the Women's World Cup where the US versus the Netherlands on Fox was the most watched Women's World Cup game match, ever on US English language television.” 

Murdoch also expects “engagement to improve significantly,” as the NFL and college football seasons progress.  

“At Tubi, we had another enviable quarter delivering 30% revenue growth driven by an impressive 65% lift in total view time,” Murdoch said. “Tubi surpassed 70 million monthly active users in September, logged nearly four billion streaming hours in the first half of the calendar year and remains the number one AVOD player and most watched free ad-supported TV streaming service in the United States. Additionally, Tubi has beaten Pluto Max Paramount+ and Peacock in view time for five consecutive months. One reason for the high engagement level that Tubi is its extensive content library that now exceeds 60,000 titles which translates into more than 225,000 movies and TV episodes in addition to approximately 300 fast channels.”

“Tubi also offers a unique and compelling proposition to advertisers,” he added. “Our recent MRI study of streaming peers concluded that Tubi saw the fastest growth amongst young and diverse populations. And that Tubi is able to deliver high-value, net new audiences with 33% of Tubi streamers unreachable on other top AVOD services.”

In terms of affiliate fees, the company acknowledged the fact that cord cutting continues to reduce pay TV subs but Steve Tomsic, CFO, said that their television segment “delivered total quarterly revenues of $1.78 billion or a 4% increase year-over-year. This was driven by an 8% increase in TV affiliate revenues with healthy growth in fees across all Fox-affiliated stations more than offset the impact from industry subscriber declines.”

Tomsic reported, however, that “cable affiliate revenues were down 2% in the quarter, largely a result of industry subscriber declines, which continue to run in the 8% range.”

LOS ANGELES & NEW YORK—Fox Corporation and News Corporation have announced that Rupert Murdoch will be stepping down as chairman of each board.

Following a career that began nearly 70 years ago in 1954, Murdoch will step down as chairman and be appointed chairman emeritus Fox Corporation as of the upcoming Annual General Meeting of Shareholders of each company in mid-November. 

Following the Annual General Meetings, Lachlan Murdoch will become sole chair of News Corp and continue as executive chair and chief executive officer of Fox Corporation, the companies reported. 

“On behalf of the FOX and News Corp boards of directors, leadership teams, and all the shareholders who have benefited from his hard work, I congratulate my father on his remarkable 70-year career,” said Lachlan Murdoch. “We thank him for his vision, his pioneering spirit, his steadfast determination, and the enduring legacy he leaves to the companies he founded and countless people he has impacted. We are grateful that he will serve as Chairman Emeritus and know he will continue to provide valued counsel to both companies.”

During his career, Murdoch founded Fox as the fourth broadcast network in the U.S. as well as such popular cable networks as Fox News and FX. His companies became the dominant pay TV operator in the U.K. with Sky. and launched large satellite pay TV operations in the U.S., Latin America and various European markets. 

The Murdoch families continue to control Fox and News Corp. and Lachlan Murdoch had been tipped in recent years as the most likely successor to his father. 

A timeline of Rupert Murdoch’s career is available at www.foxcorporation.com/rupert-murdoch. 

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES—Nearly 100 years since filming began on the Fox Studio Lot, Fox Corporation has announced ambitious plans to upgrade the lot with its Fox Future Studio Lot Project that seeks to build the studio of the future with a major expansion and overhaul of its Century City lot.

Born out of the Fox studio backlot, Century City was designed in 1957 to be the intersection of creativity, business, and entertainment production in Los Angeles. Fox Future plans to expand on that legacy nine new sound stages, modern production facilities and premium commercial office space that Fox says will have a direct local economic impact of $1.5 billion. 

The company did not release any estimates of the projects cost or figures for Fox's planned investment. 

"The Fox Studio Lot is one of the most iconic and treasured production locations in the history of entertainment and is a rich part of our history," said Lachlan Murdoch, executive chair and CEO, Fox Corporation. "The Fox Future project represents a long-term commitment to our industry, to our community, and to the City of Los Angeles."

The company reported that Fox Future project will:  

• Build new multi-media sound stages as well as post-production facilities, basecamps, and media campus offices to respond to changing technologies and increased demand in film and television production, Fox reported. 
• Create opportunities for much sought after top-of-class general office space in Century City with a new LEED-Platinum office building along Avenue of the Stars.
• Honor the significant legacy of this historic property.
• Maintain thousands of existing jobs by helping to curb runaway production and create new jobs throughout Southern California.
• Generate approximately $9 million in direct annual revenue to the City of Los Angeles that will help fund public services such as libraries, parks, police and fire services.
• Provide over $20 million in anticipated Transportation Improvement and Mitigation Fees which focus on West Los Angeles specific improvements.
• Advance sustainability efforts on the Fox Studio Lot with two new LEED-Platinum office buildings and other sustainability measures.
• Invest in West Los Angeles transit solutions and further support the much-anticipated Metro D-Line when it opens to Century City in 2025, Fox said.

In announcing the project, Fox noted that Los Angeles continues to struggle to meet the demand for sound stages, which is increasingly driving production and entertainment jobs outside the region.

With Fox Future, Fox will add nine net new sound stages to the Lot, bringing the number of stages to 24. Additional stages—equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and designed for modern film, television and content creation—will help meet entertainment industry demand and keep jobs in Los Angeles, Fox said. 

Additionally, the project will create a LEED-Platinum designed media campus office building to support Fox Studio Lot operations. Located on the Lot along Olympic Boulevard, the 24-floor building will focus on creating collaborative open spaces and shared and private offices, all designed specifically for film and television production.

Fox also announced that it may seek a development partner to transform the northeast portion of the Lot along Avenue of the Stars into a world class, state-of-the-art building with 35 floors of office above seven floors of parking.  The proposed office building would be designed to attract a notable corporate presence and provide a new headquartering opportunity in Century City.

Overall, Fox estimated that Fox Future is expected to be a major economic driver for the City of Los Angeles, responsible for an expected $1.5 billion in economic impact throughout Los Angeles County. It will also generate approximately $9 million annually in tax dollars that can be used to fund public services such as schools, libraries and emergency response services, Fox said. 

Additional details about Fox Future as well as images, maps, project updates and more are available at www.FoxFuture.com. 

NEW YORK and BERKELEY, Calif.—Fox Corporation has announced that it has invested in the Series A round of funding for Eluvio and has said Eluvio will provide the underlying technology platform for Blockchain Creative Labs, Fox Entertainment’s and Bento Box Entertainment’s recently launched NFT business and creative unit. 

As part of the investment, Paul Cheesbrough, chief technology officer and president of digital for Fox Corporation, will also join Eluvio’s Board of Directors. 

Terms of the investment were not disclosed but Fox Corporation’s investment marks the completion of Eluvio’s Series A round at a valuation of $100 million.

The investment comes at a time when a number of studios and content creators are exploring the use of blockchain technologies for distributing and monetizing content. 

Launched in 2019, Eluvio is led by Emmy Award-winning technologists, Michelle Munson and Serban Simu. It’s customer’s include Fox, MGM Studios, Sony Pictures, and others. 

The company offers Eluvio Content Fabric, an open protocol blockchain network built for owner-controlled storage, distribution, and monetization of digital content at scale. It provides live and file-based content publishing, transcoding, packaging, sequencing, dynamic and static distribution, and minting of derivative NFTs–all backed by blockchain contracts providing proof of ownership and access control. 

It also offers Eluvio LIVE. Powered by the Eluvio Content Fabric, Eluvio Live is a multi-tenant turnkey platform for publishers that provides 4K streaming and ticketing of events with media marketplaces. 

As part of the investment, Fox said it hopes to accelerate the adoption of Eluvio’s technologies.  

“At Fox, we believe that the blockchain, and the overall shift towards a more decentralized web, is providing creators with a wealth of opportunities to reach consumers with exciting new experiences,” said Cheesbrough. “Michelle, Serban and the Eluvio team are the best in the business when it comes to the software and scalable infrastructure required to power live, decentralized experiences across the blockchain and our investment will help bring this technology to a wider market of content creators, media partners and advertising clients.”

“We believe there is great opportunity in tokenized media on the blockchain, which represents a new era in how technology and entertainment will drive one another forward,” said Scott Greenberg, CEO of Blockchain Creative Labs and co-founder and CEO of Bento Box Entertainment.  “The Eluvio team members are pioneers in the digital arena, and this strategic investment in Eluvio brings Fox and Blockchain Creative Labs an indispensable partner with whom we will build this business as we together chart the future for the NFT market.”

In May, Fox Entertainment and Bento Box entered the NFT business with the formation of Blockchain Creative Labs and a $100 million creator fund to identify growth opportunities in the space.  

Blockchain Creative Labs plans to launch a dedicated digital marketplace for Emmy-winning creator Dan Harmon’s upcoming animated comedy, "KRAPOPOLIS," marking the first animated series to be curated entirely on the blockchain. The company will manage and sell digital "KRAPOPOLIS" goods, including NFTs of one-of-a-kind character and background art and GIFs, as well as tokens that provide exclusive social experiences to engage and reward super fans.  "KRAPOPOLIS" is fully owned and financed by Fox Entertainment and will be produced by Bento Box. 

NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES—Practically anyone can now access Fox TV stations to stay up to date with the latest information regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19). The Fox Corporation has announced it is offering unlimited access to Fox News Channel and its Fox-owned TV stations to anyone, subscriber or not, for no fee.

Fox said it is working with its pay-TV partners to make its national and local news coverage available to all Americans. This will also include Fox using its own distribution platforms to stream its channels across different streaming options for free.

Specifically, Fox News will be available at no charge on FoxNews.com, the Fox News app, Fox.com and the Fox Now app. Fox’s 29 owned and operated TV stations will be available for free at Fox.com and the Fox Now app.

Fox has also created special content around the coronavirus. Every weeknight at 6 p.m. ET, a three-minute live report from Fox News’ Bill Hemmer provides national perspective, facts and context on the coronavirus. Fox also launched CoronavirusNOW.com, a free-to-use website that provides breaking news, updates and interviews with health officials.

“Our highest duty as a company is to provide the individuals and communities we serve with information and analysis to help educate and protect them during dangerous times,” said Lachlan Murdoch, Fox’s executive chairman and CEO. 

NEW YORK—Project OAR has announced that it is adding a new member to its consortium for addressable TV advertising in the form of the Fox Corporation. As a new member, Fox will serve on the primary Steering Committee that is tasked with creating a standard by which all parties in the TV ecosystem can collaborate and unite on addressable advertising.

“We believe that this consortium, which benefits from both sell-side and buy-side support, will help drive adoption across the industry and enable us to execute at scale,” said Dan Callahan, vice president, audience and automated sales at Fox.

In the Steering Committee, Fox joins Disney Media Networks, Warner Media, Xandr, Comcast’s FreeWheel and NBCUniversal, Hearts Television, AMC Networks, Vizio and Inscape.

Project OAR also made the announcement of the new Agency Advisory Committee that aims to provide guidance and buy-side insight into the issues of an addressable marketplace. Participation pledges for this committee came from Publicis Media, Omnicom Media Group, GroupM, IPG/Magna, Dentsu Aegis Network, Havas and Horizon Media. The group met for the first time in May to discuss issues that range from measurement to inventory management, privacy policies and cross-networking targeting.

Project OAR’s goal of an open standard for addressable advertising on Smart TVs and connected devices projects to develop its offering in the first half of 2020.