Rupert Murdoch has opened Fox Corp's Investor Day presentation with a promise that the slimmed-down company will be a Wall Street growth story.
Murdoch, Fox Corp chairman, told the crowd in New York he decided to sell most of his Hollywood assets to Disney in order to make the most out of all that he had assembled over the past few decades.
"We were pivoting at a pivotal moment while staying true of course to our principles and our purpose," he said on Thursday.
Murdoch asserted the 20th Century Fox studio and other assets were better off under the Disney umbrella in order to achieve scale rather than struggle to compete against the deep pockets of the tech giants moving into video.
The remaining businesses that form the new Fox Corp - Fox Broadcasting, Fox News and Fox Sports - will be energised with new focus and resources.
"A good deal of our efforts are focused on simplifying a good deal of our structure," Murdoch said. "We could see the shift coming in media and the danger to the industry."
Live events, news and sports will be the laser focus of the company. Murdoch and Fox Corp chief executive Lachlan Murdoch vowed not to be "distracted" by other business ventures beyond the core TV focus.
"We've recommitted to providing great entertainment, storytelling, breaking news and challenging opinions and of course, captivating sports," Rupert Murdoch said.
Lachlan Murdoch echoed his father's enthusiasm for the new company's prospects. He called the company's corporate structure "insanely simple", with half of its revenue coming from MVPD affiliate fees and half from advertising.
"Our news, sports and broadcasting assets have been reinvented into a simpler, stronger Fox," he said.
Throughout the presentation, Fox executives stressed the leaner company is better off to compete in the US TV landscape as it will focus on generating affiliate fees from MVPDs on a handful of must-have channels.
"Fox will lead all other networks in the rate of growth in total retrans revenue," Fox Corp chief operating officer John Nallen promised.
Fox's deals with MVPDs that provide three-quarters of the company's overall affiliate fee revenue are up for renewal in the next three years, Fox CFO Steve Tomsic said.
Lachlan Murdoch was blunt in stating that the Fox broadcast network now has greater ability to shop around other studios and production entities for programming rather than having to favour the 20th Century Fox TV pipeline.
On the other hand, Fox may have fewer big suppliers to choose from in the future as its larger rivals focus on feeding content to ambitious streaming efforts.
"In the old structure we were more supply driven," he said. The new system "will lead to a better, broader more competitive schedule". The company overall is better off being "unencumbered by assets and strategies and attitudes that are not built for today's eco-system".
Rupert Murdoch reminded the crowd of the long-term track record of Fox and the windfall that 21st Century Fox shareholders received after a bidding war for the company between Disney and Comcast last year. "Investors who have joined us have prospered," he said.
Nallen was also direct in telling analysts that the company is not for sale, not does it have a major acquisition on the horizon, at present. "We're not running this company to sell it, we're running it for growth," Nallen said.
