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On Thursday, a New York appeals court ruled to reject Fox Corporation’s efforts to be dismissed from the $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit filed against them by Smartmatic.

In 2021, Smartmatic, a voting technology company, sued Fox News and Fox Corporation for the news guests and hosts baselessly accused them of rigging the 2020 election. In the lawsuit, Smartmatic accused Rupert Murdoch, owner of the media giant, as well as his son, Lachlan Murdock, a Fox Corporation CEO, of intentionally using the news source as a “disinformation campaign to win back its audience.”

Despite reporting unfounded and debunked conspiracy theories that the 2020 election was rigged, Fox News has denied any unethical behavior. Fox has maintained that the network cannot be held responsible for repeatedly hosting Trump’s attorneys, claiming it was a journalistic effort.

Fox News has made numerous requests to dismiss the case, all of which have been unsuccessful.

A Fox representative responded to the recent ruling,...

Detective Murdoch is back on the case and is returning next month. Ovation has announced that season 14 of the Murdoch Mysteries TV series (previously titled as The Artful Detective in the United States) will debut on Saturday, February 20th. There are 11 episodes this time around.

The Murdoch Mysteries program revolves around Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), a methodical and dashing detective from the early 1900s, who enlists radical new forensic techniques like fingerprinting, ultraviolet light, and trace evidence to solve some of Toronto's most gruesome murders. The rest of the cast includes Hélène Joy, Thomas Craig, Jonny Harris, Lachlan Murdoch, Shanice Banton, Daniel Maslany, Arwen Humphreys, and Siobhan Murphy.

Filmed During The Pandemic, "Murdoch Mysteries" Returns To Ovation TV For The U.S. Television Premiere Of A Remarkable Fourteenth Season

Episodes Will Air on Saturday...

The Donald Trump era is passing like a dark cloud, but I’d offer a second headline of equal importance: The Rupert Murdoch era also is history. As the media lord nears 90, his ominous hold on the politics and pop culture of three nations is lifting as well. Hollywood, too, will be healthier in his absence.

The Trump legacy is one of hatred and betrayal – that much has come into alarming focus in the last 48 hours. But that shouldn’t distract from the reality that Murdoch’s media arsenal helped build Trumpism – Fox News, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and even those assets overseas. Murdoch has profited from splintering American society.

Thirty years ago this week I wrote a column I regret which was headlined “Rupert Rebounds.” At that moment Murdoch was in a $6.8 billion sinkhole of debt, unable to secure a $600 million bridge loan to pacify his bankers.

Advertisers in next year’s Super Bowl are hoping they will get to party like it’s pre-pandemic 2020.

Earlier this year, Fox Corporation took in about $600 million in advertising revenue for its broadcast of Super Bowl Liv and pre- and post-game coverage, Lachlan Murdoch, the company’s executive chairman, said earlier this year. The game itself, aired on the Fox broadcast network, generated around $435 million, a record haul, according to Kantar, a tracker of ad spending. With a booming economy as a backdrop, Fox was able to sell out all of its regular inventory for the game by November of 2019 — the first time in half a decade that the network airing the game hasn’t had to go down to the wire to accomplish the feat.

Now CBS, which is scheduled to air Super Bowl Lv on February 7 of 2021, faces a radically different situation. Thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, the...

Amid the still-resurging pandemic, Fox is delaying its return to office a few more months, telling employees on Friday to expect to work from home until April at the earliest.

“It was our hope that the trajectory of the pandemic would be such that we could begin our reopening in January 2021. However, with cases continuing to rise, we have delayed our next possible phase one reopening date to no earlier than April 2021,” Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said in a memo. “With most employees continuing to work remotely through at least the end of March, we are able to maintain a low density in our offices for those employees whose jobs do require them to be on site.”

The announcement comes as Fox News’ on-air talent continues to publicly challenge Covid restrictions that have been stepped up in multiple states amid a spike in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

The U.

Employees at Fox Corporation had been told to get ready for a return to their offices as soon as January. Now they will wait until at least April.

In a memo sent to staffers, Lachlan Murdoch, the company’s executive chairman and CEO, said Fox Corp. will push back a full re-opening of its facilities due to the rise of coronavirus cases around the nation.

“It was our hope that the trajectory of the pandemic would be such that we could begin our reopening in January 2021. However, with cases continuing to rise, we have delayed our next possible phase one reopening date to no earlier than April 2021. We made this decision with the well-being of the entire Fox organization in mind,” Murdoch said in a memo. “With most employees continuing to work remotely through at least the end of March, we are able to maintain a low density in our...

Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch says the company’s target date to start to reopen offices and facilities in January has been postponed until “no earlier than” April 2021.

The executive delivered the update today in a memo to employees (read it below).

November has brought a mix of news on the coronavirus front in the U.S. Two major vaccines have reported high rates of effectiveness and appear to be on the verge of federal approval and wide distribution. At the same time, though, most states and major cities have imposed strict restrictions as overall infection rates surge to record highs. New York and LA, where many Fox and overall media workers are based, have outperformed much of the country but are nevertheless seeing significant flare-ups and setbacks.

In addition to extending the remote work period, Fox is also going to prolong the period when it pays full-time employees’ health insurance premiums.

As state and local officials across the United States report rises in Covid-19 cases in the days ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Fox Corp. is delaying its plan to have most staffers return to work in offices until at least April 2021.

In a memo to staffers on Friday, CEO and chairman Lachlan Murdoch said that the media conglomerate revised earlier guidance for a return to work from January until later in the spring.

“It was our hope that the trajectory of the pandemic would be such that we could begin our reopening in January 2021,” Murdoch wrote....

As state and local officials across the United States report rises in Covid-19 cases in the days ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Fox Corp. is delaying its plan to have most staffers return to work in offices until at least April 2021.

In a memo to staffers on Friday, CEO and chairman Lachlan Murdoch said that the media conglomerate revised earlier guidance for a return to work from January until later in the spring.

“It was our hope that the trajectory of the pandemic would be such that we could begin our reopening in January 2021,” Murdoch wrote....

Newsmax may be focused on conservative audiences, but it has very liberal views of where its business can go in the future as an independent news operation.

The top executive of the news outlet said the company intends to move forward on its own, and noted Newsmax has little desire to turn the network, which has seen its ratings pop since the presidential election, into a TV outlet focused largely on a forum for a post-White House Donald Trump.

“Newsmax would never become ‘Trump TV,'” Christopher Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax, told Variety in an interview Sunday evening. “We have always seen ourselves as an independent news agency, and we want to continue with that mission. But we are open — [Trump] is going to be a political and media force after he leaves the White House, and we would be open to talking to him about a weekly show.” The...

Donald Trump launched into a series of rage retweets against Fox News, amid a report that he wants to start a streaming rival to the network.

Trump also tweeted, “@FoxNews daytime ratings have completely collapsed. Weekend daytime even Worse. Very sad to watch this happen, but they forgot what made them successful, what got them there. They forgot the Golden Goose. The biggest difference between the 2016 Election, and 2020, was @FoxNews!”

On Thursday, Trump retweeted more than a dozen posts critical of Fox News, including ones in which followers say that they have switched to other outlets like Newsmax and One America News Network, which have trafficked in the president’s unfounded and unproven claims that the election was rigged and stolen from him. Newsmax has yet to declare Biden the winner.

The editorial side of Fox News has at times pushed back against some of those claims, including an incident...

President Donald Trump wants to launch a conservative media empire to “wreck Fox” News and steal its audience, according to a Thursday report from Axios.

An unnamed individual “with knowledge of Trump’s intentions” told Axios that he plans to launch a subscription-based digital streaming channel and use his database of contact information of millions of Maga supporters to launch. “He plans to wreck Fox. No doubt about it,” the individual said, adding that Trump may also use upcoming post-election rallies to slam Fox News to drum up interest in his new media venture.

Starting a digital platform would be considerably cheaper and faster than attempting to create a new cable news outlet from scratch, Axios noted. So Trump’s planned digital streamer wouldn’t be competition for Fox News so much as it would be for Fox Nation, the network’s own online subscription service. Fox Nation is almost...

Fox has confirmed that it has renewed reality competition format Lego Masters – six months after Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch revealed that it had begun preparing for a second season.

The network has ordered a second run of the 10-part series with host and exec producer Will Arnett returning. It will air in 2021.

The show sees pairs of Lego enthusiasts facing off in brick-building challenges. It launched on Fox in February.

Murdoch revealed the second season preparations during the network’s investor call in May, but it took a while for the deal to close. He said at the time that it was planning for another midseason launch.

Based on the hit British reality-competition series of the same name, Lego Masters is produced by Endemol Shine North America, Tuesday’s Child and Brad Pitt’s Plan B.

Throughout the competition, Arnett, alongside expert judges, encourages the builders, introduces challenges and puts...

Fox has locked “Lego Masters” for a second season. The competition series, hosted by Will Arnett, has already been casting and will shoot in the spring for an airdate sometime in 2021.

A pickup has been expected for months, particularly after Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch revealed that preparation had begun on Season 2 during an investor earnings call in May. But negotiations with Endemol Shine North America, which produces the show, took longer than expected as both sides ironed out license fees.

“Lego Masters” was a hit for Fox last season, ending the year as broadcast TV’s No. 1 new entertainment program among adults 18-49 and No. 1 new reality series in total viewers, averaging 9.7 million across all platforms. Fox also touted the show’s draw for co-viewing, as adults and their children watched together.

“’Lego Masters’ raised the bar for all competition series, wowing fans with its wildly creative builds,” said Rob Wade,...

Cable news outlets focused on nothing last week but the presidential election. On Fox News Channel, however, Bill Hemmer found a few seconds to peer into the future.

“The thing about our industry, Dana, and you know it very well: When there is information, when there is data, when the story is changing, you can run on adrenaline for a long time,” he said to anchor Dana Perino during hours spent on air. “It’s those periods where you hit

the walls and nothing is new and you start to think, ‘Hmm, what’s next?’”

A lot of top media executives will be called upon in the coming days to answer Hemmer’s question. Gobs of influence and millions of dollars are at stake.

Fox News, CNN and MSNBC have for more than four years been caught up in the whirlwind of the Trump presidency, a period when tweets, not physical news events,...

Sean Hannity may not be worried about the 2020 election — if he is, he hasn’t said it on his Fox News Channel show — but his ultimate boss has indicated media investors might have some cause for concern.

The executive who has final oversight of Fox News Channel suggested Tuesday that the surge in audiences enjoyed by news networks may fall noticeably after the 2020 election — a development that could have ramifications for some of the nation’s biggest media companies.

“I would expect that as we enter a more normal news cycle, which will happen eventually, that appetite for news will shift,” said Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, during a Tuesday call with investors. Fox, he added, would focus on keeping its share of viewership, so that it could continue to maintain leverage in the advertising market and wield influence with its audience and newsmakers.

One factor...

Ad-supported streaming service Tubi has seen the time viewers spend on the service nearly double in the last year, parent company Fox reported on Tuesday morning.

The spike in viewership coincides with more people spending time at home due to Covid-19 — something that other streamers have benefited from as well this year. But it’s also tied to having more big-name shows on the service as well as a beefed-up marketing campaign, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said on the company’s earnings call.

“Tubi has averaged approximately 100% increase year over year in total view time, the most meaningful metric when measuring the performance of any AVOD service,” Murdoch said. “This is due in part to the more than 41 Fox titles currently available on Tubi, including ‘The Masked Singer,’ ‘Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours to Hell and Back,’ and ‘Lego Masters.’ When Tubi began streaming ‘The Masked Singer,’ the show quickly became Tubi’s No.

Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corp., said Fox News would welcome the arrival of a rival news and opinion brand led by Donald Trump if he is no longer president.

“We love competition,” Murdoch said in response to a direct question from an analyst about Trump’s future during the company’s quarterly earnings call. “We have always thrived with competition. … The only difference today versus some years ago is as our audience has grown and our reach has grown, we see our competition as no longer only cable news providers but also as the traditional broadcast networks.”

From Labor Day to Election Day, Murdoch noted, Fox News was the top network in broadcast or cable in terms of total audience. Prior to the call, Fox Corp. reported so-so results for its fiscal first quarter, exceeding analysts’ estimates but revealing a major toll from Covid-19.

Trump, who faces a stiff...

Cable ad sales at Fox Corp. rose $45 million in the company’s first quarter of fiscal year 2021, as Fox News ratings climbed ahead of the 2020 presidential election, the company revealed in its Q1 earnings report Tuesday.

According to Fox, the company’s quarterly income grew by more than $1 billion ($1.12 billion from $513 million) thanks in large part to Disney — which purchased a large chunk of 21st Century Fox assets for $71 billion in 2020 — selling off former Fox regional sports networks, resulting in a $462 million cash payment to Fox.

Fox beat Wall Street’s expectations for its Q1 2021, with analysts forecasting earnings per share (Eps) of 74 cents on $2.57 billion in revenue, according to a consensus compiled by Yahoo Finance. On Tuesday, Fox reported adjusted Eps of $1.18 on $2.72 billion in revenue, rising 2% from the $2.67 billion in revenue it posted in the comparable year-ago quarter.

Despite the 18% advertising revenue increase at cable networks thanks to Fox News,...

Fox Corporation managed to mitigate some of the effects of the coronavirus pandemic as strength at its Fox News Media operations and a gain recorded on a payment from Walt Disney Co. helped the company navigate its way to a profit in its first fiscal quarter.

The owner of Fox News Channel and the Fox broadcast network said revenue during the period increased 2% to $2.72 billion from $2.67 billion in the earlier period, largely due to increases in fees paid by distributors of Fox News. Those payments helped offset downturns in advertising as well as challenges rising from delays in sports and scripted programming due to pandemic conditions.

“Our growth was led by Fox News Media where the Fox News Channel has been the highest rated television network in America for the last four months and has consistently achieved record digital engagement across its platforms,” said Lachlan Murdoch, the company’s executive chairman and CEO,...

Fox. Corp., led by CEO and executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch and chairman Rupert Murdoch, posted improved quarterly financials that were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, but provided several upside surprises.

While total advertising revenue in the fiscal first quarter fell 7 percent, the company posted an 18 percent advertising revenue increase at its cable networks unit on the strength of Fox News, which has done well in the ratings during this election and pandemic year. So it was fitting Fox Corp. chose election day in the U.S. to tout audience and advertising growth for Fox News to investors and ...

Fox. Corp., led by CEO and executive chairman Lachlan Murdoch and chairman Rupert Murdoch, posted improved quarterly financials that were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, but provided several upside surprises.

While total advertising revenue in the fiscal first quarter fell 7 percent, the company posted an 18 percent advertising revenue increase at its cable networks unit on the strength of Fox News, which has done well in the ratings during this election and pandemic year. So it was fitting Fox Corp. chose election day in the U.S. to tout audience and advertising growth for Fox News to investors and ...

Some of Fox News Channel’s most popular anchors and hosts are expected to get coronavirus tests after attending this week’s presidential debate, according to two people familiar with the matter, the result of the disclosure that President Donald Trump and Melania Trump have gone into quarantine following testing positive.

Sean Hannity, Chris Wallace, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum are among the on-air personnel believed to be getting tested, as well as Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott and President Jay Wallace. Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman of Fox Corporation, the network’s parent, will also get tested, according to one of these people. He was present at the debate as well.

Some of these people are getting tested after interacting with Wallace following his moderation of the debate, these people said, not because they were near President Trump. And John Roberts, a Fox News Washington correspondent, is getting tested...

In a crucial moment for any TV network that wants to stay in the business of broadcasting NFL football games, ESPN this evening is calling in some big guns.

Before kickoff on tonight’s “Monday Night Football,” the sports-media giant will feature an opening segment designed with help from colleagues at Disney sibling Marvel. The montage looks similar to the opening of one of the studio’s super-hero blockbusters. Viewers will hear narration from Samuel L. Jackson, the actor who plays Nick Fury and has enjoyed a continuing presence in Marvel’s popular films. They will see players from tonight’s game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens depicted as if they were superheroes from one of Marvel’s colorful comic books. And then they will hear “Heavy Action,” the theme that has been have been an audio hallmark of the program since its tenure on ABC.

Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, the overseers of the Fox Corp. media conglomerate their family controls, saw their annual compensation fall for the most recent fiscal year in large part due to executives’ decision to give up salary between May and September as the company grappled with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rupert Murdoch’s total annual compensation fell 19%, to just under $34 million in fiscal 2020, compared with about $42.2 million in fiscal 2019, according to a proxy statement filed Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Lachlan Murdoch’s total annual compensation fell about 31% in fiscal 2020 to about $29.2 million from $42.1 million in the company’s fiscal 2019.

Top Fox Corp. executives volunteered to forgo base salaries for five months, while directors of the company’s non-executive board members suspended compensation increases for fiscal 2021. “These and other actions enabled the Company to preserve its dividend to stockholders notwithstanding the impact of the pandemic,...

Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch both made significantly less money in 2020 than they did in 2019. But don’t feel sorry for either father or son — the senior Fox executives still made tens of millions of dollars apiece.

In 2020, chairman Rupert Murdoch made $34 million, down from $42.2 million in 2019. CEO Lachlan Murdoch earned $29.2 million this fiscal year, down from his $42.1 million haul last year.

Part of the decrease can be attributed to the fact that both Murdochs, along with other senior executives, agreed in May to forgo salaries through September in order to help the company weather the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Other executives took similar paycuts, including COO John Nallen, chief legal and policy officer Viet Dinh and CFO Steve Tomsic.

Lachlan Murdoch’s base salary declined from $3 million last year to $2.5 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, while Rupert Murdoch’s base salary decreased from $6.5 million to $4.2 million.

Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch’s compensation totaled $29.15 million for the fiscal year ended in June, down sharply from $42.11 million the year before.

His dad, chairman Rupert Murdoch, took home $33.98 million, also below the $42.16 million for Fox’s fiscal 2019, according to a proxy statement filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The dip is due in part to the executives voluntarily agreeing to forgo 100% of their base salaries from May 1 through September 30, the proxy said. Neither exec took a bonus, and stock awards, while hefty, were significantly lower than the year before.

Executive pay was a hot-button issue last spring when most companies (that work on a calendar year ending in December) file proxies. These documents among other things report the annual compensation of the top five highest-paid execs. The pandemic was already in full force with many workers furloughed or laid off even as media CEOs recorded giant pay...

Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch and Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch received significantly less in compensation in fiscal 2020 as compared to the year prior, earning $33.98 million and $29.15 million, respectively. The lower compensation was revealed in a proxy filing Wednesday, and reflects the new corporate structure of Fox, as well as voluntary pay reductions due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In fiscal 2019, both Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch had earned $42.1 million in compensation. Those pay packages included a portion of the year in which the Murdochs still controlled 21st Century Fox, which sold its entertainment assets ...

Fox Corp. chairman Rupert Murdoch and Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch received significantly less in compensation in fiscal 2020 as compared to the year prior, earning $33.98 million and $29.15 million, respectively. The lower compensation was revealed in a proxy filing Wednesday, and reflects the new corporate structure of Fox, as well as voluntary pay reductions due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

In fiscal 2019, both Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch had earned $42.1 million in compensation. Those pay packages included a portion of the year in which the Murdochs still controlled 21st Century Fox, which sold its entertainment assets ...

Fox News Media expects to cut less than 3% of its overall staff as the unit, the financial engine of parent Fox Corporation, works to make its operations more efficient after a period of expansion.

“As Fox News Media has evolved into a streamlined multi-platform organization, we are realigning several functions and restructuring various divisions in order to position all of our businesses for ongoing success,” the company said in a statement Wednesday. The number of people affected is said to be fewer than 80, and the move will include positions of all ranks, except for on-air anchors, reporters and contributors.

Many media companies have had to grapple with tougher economics put in place by the coronavirus pandemic, but Fox News’ move is said to be based on a desire to operate more efficiently as the company has, under CEO Suzanne Scott, grown to encompass new digital and broadband operations.

Fox News...

Fox News will continue thriving even if Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump in November’s presidential election, Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch predicts.

“We’ve not only been strong but we’ve grown ratings in multiple administrations, from both political parties — Clinton, Bush, Obama,” Murdoch said. News was one of several topics the executive addressed in an appearance at the BofA Securities 2020 Media, Communications and Entertainment Virtual Conference.

The executive stressed the “news ecosystem” around Fnc in the conversation, which was moderated by veteran media analyst Jessica Reif Ehrlich. The company officially changed the division’s name to Fox News Media “because it’s not just … running a linear news channel,” he said. “You have Fox News, you have Fox Business, you have their digital businesses … Fox Nation, and Fox News International. Fox News Digital in August did almost 4 billion page views, which is up 30% year on year.”

Multi-platform initiatives...

The NFL season — somehow, some way — is actually kicking off tonight in Kansas City with NBC’s broadcast of the Chiefs game against the Houston Texans. The return of pro football (plus select college games) is coming not a moment too soon for a television advertising business trying to end this tempestuous year on a positive note.

Of all the parts of the media landscape wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, live sports is the most precious. The multibillion-dollar sports TV ad business has had a hole blown out of it, though the return of golf, soccer, baseball and NBA basketball has brought encouraging results.

As the NFL returns on NBC and networks plan two dozen college telecasts this weekend, though, football carries even more weight than usual because TV production is still waylaid by the pandemic. Networks have not even announced the completion of their upfront advertising sales...

Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch says his slimmed-down media firm has fared well during the pandemic because of the assets it retained as part of its $71.3 billion sale of 21st Century Fox assets to Walt Disney.

“Fortune can go your way sometimes,” Murdoch told the Bank of America Securities 2020 Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference during a session that was webcast on Thursday. The new Fox, led by Lachlan Murdoch as CEO and chairman and Rupert Murdoch as co-chairman, includes the Fox broadcast network, TV stations, the Fox News group and the Fox Sports assets.

“...

Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch says his slimmed-down media firm has fared well during the pandemic because of the assets it retained as part of its $71.3 billion sale of 21st Century Fox assets to The Walt Disney Co.

“Fortune can go your way sometimes,” Murdoch told the Bank of America Securities 2020 Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference during a session that was webcast on Thursday. The new Fox, led by Lachlan Murdoch as CEO and chairman and Rupert Murdoch as co-chairman, includes the Fox broadcast network, TV stations, the Fox News group and the Fox Sports ...

TV’s hottest properties this year may have little to do with the primetime lineup for which the medium is best known.

Advertisers are placing new emphasis on ad-supported streaming outlets like Walt Disney’s Hulu and NBCUniversal’s Peacock, while exploring opportunities with WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, Fox’s Tubi and ViacomCBS’s Pluto, according to four media buyers and three other executives familiar with the pace of the industry’s annual “upfront” negotiations, when Madison Avenue and U.S. media companies haggle over advertising inventory in the next programming cycle.

In a normal time, both sides would have wrapped their bargaining in mid-July. But amid the effects of the coronavirus, the market is just approaching its halfway point, according to these people. Ad budgets are down, in some cases significantly. One buying executive estimated clients could budget 15% to 20% less than their normal spend, while another buyer suggested the...

Fox Corp. and Walt Disney have both reinstated executive salaries for most of those impacted by temporary pay cuts amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to those familiar with the situation.

At Fox, the parent company of Fox Entertainment, Fox News, Fox Business and Fox Sports, compensation reductions of 15% for execs at the vice president level and above came to an end on July 31. That move affected around 700 employees at the company.

“The sacrifice you have made over the past several months has allowed us to protect our full-time colleagues with salary and benefit continuation,” said Viet Dinh, Fox’s chief legal and policy officer, in an email to impacted employees.

In April, just weeks after the pandemic forced television and film production to shut down and most of Hollywood to work from home, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch informed staff that the company would pay for their health insurance premiums and waive co-pays.

Exclusive: Thousands of executives across The Walt Disney Company and Fox Corporation are getting their paychecks restored to pre-covid-19 levels.

We hear the temporary pay cuts, which Fox imposed due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the entertainment industry, ended July 31 as originally planned. The Disney temporary salary reductions, which had been open-ended, will be lifted starting August 23., sources say.

The impacted executives from both companies were recently notified in internal emails, we’ve learned.

Citing the adverse affects of the pandemic, Fox Corp. Executive chairman-ceo Lachlan Murdoch on April 22 informed staff that, both chairman Rupert Murdoch and himself, along with COO John Nallen, chief legal and policy officer Viet Dinh and CFO Steve Tomsic, will forgo their salaries through September 30, with the rest of Lachlan Murdoch’s direct reports executive team reducing their salaries by 50% through the same period. Those reductions are still in effect and will...

Tucker Carlson’s top-rated Fox News Channel hour has hit record ratings highs in recent months amid the rising tide for news networks as the presidential election draws near. Record ratings usually means record revenue for ad-supported TV shows.

But “Tucker Carlson Tonight” has never been more difficult to monetize for the news network amid today’s polarized political environment. Advertisers face heavy pressure to stay away from his show for what his critics say is a tendency to fan racist rhetoric. Carlson says he has the backing of Fox News barons Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch, which means that his show isn’t going away and he doesn’t care if that prospect horrifies those who have been working for his demise.

In a lengthy interview, Carlson tells Variety he’s spent months in the trenches “fighting a never-ending assault to take us off the air” by critics who...

As college presidents and officials at the “Power 5” college football conferences moved closer to postponing the fall season over Covid-19 concerns, a dozen top players have organized a pushback.

Spearheaded by Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence, the players used the hashtag #WeWantToPlay to argue that the risk for those participating in football is lower than in a non-college sports environment. In a joint statement, the players called for “universal, mandated health and safety procedures” while also backing the rights of individual players to opt out for personal reasons.

The outcome of the deliberations will have a major impact on a number of major media companies, including Disney, Fox and ViacomCBS. College football has boomed in popularity over the years, becoming a multi-billion-dollar business across dozens of national and regional pay-tv networks.

Asked last week during Disney’s quarterly earnings call for his view on college football, CEO Bob Chapek deferred to...

A significant chunk of Fox Corp.’s employee base is likely to work from home for the rest of 2020 to keep the coronavirus from spreading among staffers, the company’s chief executive revealed in a memo.

“In the near-term, we want to maintain a low density in our offices for those employees whose jobs do require them to be on site,” said Lachlan Murdoch, in the note. “We also want to provide additional clarity to everyone, allowing you to plan for your own childcare, eldercare and other personal considerations. While the needs of each business will vary over the next five months, we currently expect that those non-production employees who have been working remotely will continue to do so for the remainder of the calendar year.”

Other media companies have signaled similar moves in recent weeks, with WarnerMedia and ViacomCBS among those entities suggesting the bulk of their employee base...

Fox Corp.’s non-production employees will continue to work remotely at least through year end as Covid-19 cases spike and the company explores more flexible longer-term arrangments, said CEO Lachlan Murdoch.

“The rising rates of positive cases in areas where we have a significant presence coupled with evolving restrictions and best practices around the country are impacting and postponing our planned companywide return to work efforts this fall,” he said in a note to employees Thursday. “We are nonetheless hopeful that production activities will increase substantially in the coming weeks and that more of our colleagues will be back on site and engaged in delivering world class news, sports and entertainment content for our audiences.”

Murdoch said non-production employees who have been working remotely will continue to do so for the remainder of the calendar year. “Learnings from the past several months will influence our long-term thinking about how we...

Fox Corp. on Tuesday reported total sales of $2.42 billion last quarter, in line with expectations, down slightly (4%) from a year ago but off $1 billion from the previous three months as Covid-19 hit advertising.

The company that owns Fox News, Fox Sports, Fox Entertainment and the Fox Television Stations had warned a major squeeze was coming with stations expected to be down 50%.

Net income for Fox’s fourth quarter decreased to $145 million from $165 million in the prior-year quarter due to higher impairment and restructuring charges.

Excluding items, Fox reported adjusted earnings of $375 million or $0.62 per share for the period.

Last quarter, the company’s fiscal third, Fox ad revenue jumped 25% to $3.44 billion, beating estimates, as ad revenues swelled 44% on Super Bowl Liv and there were just a few weeks of pandemic-related disruption. Fox’s fiscal year ends in June.

“Fox delivered strong results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year,...

Fox Corporation said net income in its fiscal fourth quarter tumbled despite only a slight decline in revenue after the company exited a multi-year rights agreement with the U.S Golf Association and grappled with conditions set by the coronavirus pandemic.

The owner of Fox News Channel, Fox Broadcasting and Fox Sports, said net income during the period came to $122 million, or 20 cents per share, compared with $454 million, or 73 cents per share in the year-earlier period. Excluding one-time items, Fox said earnings would have come to $375 million or 62 cents per share for the period.

Revenue in the period was off 4% to $2.42 billion, compared with $2.51 billion a year earlier. The company cited an 8% increase in fees from cable and satellite distributors that was offset by a 22% decrease in advertising revenue due to lower activity and its local TV stations, fewer live sports broadcasts and fewer hours of scripted programming to show on Fox Broadcasting.

Although Fox warned the coronavirus pandemic could have adverse affects on its bottom line going forward, the company managed to come slightly ahead of Wall Street expectations in reporting its fourth quarter earnings.

For the three months ending on June 30, representing the company’s fourth fiscal quarter for 2020, Fox reported $2.42 billion in revenue, topping analyst estimates of $2.4 billion. Fox also posted an adjusted earnings per share of 62 cents, which beat projections of 57 cents. Compared to the year-ago quarter, revenue was down 4% from 2.51 billion. This is the first fourth quarter since 2017 that Fox was not airing a World Cup. For the full fiscal 2020 year, Fox reported $12.30 billion in revenue, an 8% increase from the $11.39 billion from the prior year.

Fox also saw its net income for the quarter decrease by more than $300 million from the prior year ($454 million to $122 million), largely do to its decision to exit its rights deal with the U.

News Corp. said Friday that James Murdoch, the son of founder Rupert Murdoch, is resigning from its board of directors due to unspecified differences over editorial content. It’s the latest in periodic bouts of drama in the media dynasty. Youngest and liberal-leaning son James has had issues with editorial content before in the broader business of the family — a loose model for the one on hit HBO drama Succession — that also controls Fox News.

James and his wife, Kathryn each gave $615,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in June.

The board seat is James’ last formal role inside the company. News Corp. is the newspaper publishing arm of the Murdoch empire and parent of The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post and tabloids and newspaper in Britain and Australia. James’ older brother Lachlan Murdoch is co-chairman of News Corp., with his father, executive chairman and CEO of Fox Corp.

James Murdoch, former chief executive of 21st Century Fox and son of Rupert Murdoch, has resigned from the News Corp. board of directors over “disagreements over certain editorial content” published by the company’s news outlets, per an investor filing.

His brief letter reads as follows:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I hereby tender my resignation as a member of the Board of Directors of News Corporation (the “Company”), effective as of the date hereof.

My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the Company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions.

Sincerely,

James R. Murdoch

News Corp’s brands include the Dow Jones — the parent company of the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch — as well as the New York Post, Storyful and Australian publications the Australian, the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Telegraph, among others.

His father, the elder Murdoch, has been executive chairman of...

Fox is making plans for more of The Masked Singer, the highly-rated costumed singing competition series. If things go according to plan, fans of the show should see the fourth season in September.

Production has not yet begun on season four but, per Deadline, the network is hoping to get the judges, contestants, and crew members filming over the next six weeks to stay on schedule. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, plans will remain fluid. In May, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch had said they were hoping for filming to begin in early August, "should conditions allow for it".

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Fox is plotting a September bow for mystery-singing competition format The Masked Singer. This comes despite the fact that the show, which entered the Emmys race yesterday, scoring a nomination for Outstanding Competition Program, has not yet begun production.

The network has posted a teaser clip promoting the fourth season, which will air during tonight’s season finale of Ultimate Tag. Watch it here.

Deadline understands the broadcaster is hoping to get the show back in the studio over the next six weeks so it can hit the September deadline, but obviously, as with all things coronavirus-related, the situation remains fluid.

Fox handed The Masked Singer an 8 p.m. slot for its fall schedule in May, running before the return of MasterChef Junior. The show, which features celebrities singing in crazy costumes as judges guess their identity, was renewed back in May ahead of the finale of Season 3. Fox CEO...

Fox News staffers accused the network of “rank racism” and creating “a white supremacist cell inside the top cable network in America, the one that directly influences the president,” according to the Daily Beast.

In a report published Friday, the Daily Beast writes that more than a dozen staffers said they believe upper management has fostered a toxic environment that is evident in programming and within the company.

The piece references a June 9 Zoom meeting — between Black staffers and Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott, President Jay Wallace, vice president of diversity and inclusion Marsheila J. Hayes and Hr head Kevin Lord — that came about after “Special Report With Bret Baier” aired a graphic tying the killing of Black men to changes in the stock market.

Also Read: Tucker Carlson Calls Ex-Writer's Racist Posts 'Wrong' - But Lashes Out at 'Ghouls' Celebrating 'Destruction of a Young Man'

During the meeting,...

“Lego Masters” hasn’t yet been renewed for a Season 2, yet Fox Corp. boss Lachlan Murdoch has all but confirmed that it will be back — well, once productions are allowed to come back. The show was broadcast’s top-rated new series among adults 18-49, adults 18-34 and teens last season. And Fox touted that it was also the season’s No. 1 “co-viewed” broadcast entertainment program. I watched it with my boys, and as they marveled at the show’s creations, I was impressed with the production’s casting, humorous tone and willingness to break the form while keeping the competition legit.

“It was great to see Lachlan speak so supportively of the show,” says host Will Arnett. The feedback has been fantastic and so it would be exciting if we got to come back and make more episodes.” Expect an announcement soon, insiders say.

Variety‘s Awards HQ newsletter recently...