Fox has agreed to buy Red Seat Ventures, a rightwing podcast company that produces shows for Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Piers Morgan, as Rupert Murdoch’s television group pushes into the flourishing podcasting sector.
Red Seat, which offers production, distribution and marketing services for creators out of its New York headquarters, will be folded into Fox’s Tubi streaming unit.
“Consumers are increasingly looking to get their information, insights and entertainment directly from the voices and brands they trust across these platforms,” said Tubi chief executive Paul Cheesbrough. “We see tremendous opportunities to drive additional scale in genres such as sports, news and entertainment,” he added.
The companies declined to provide financial details.
The deal allows Fox, which still makes most of its money from traditional TV, to delve into the podcasting and online video sector, which has soared in influence. Rightwing podcasters and influencers have been widely credited as helping Donald Trump win over younger Americans, after the US president appeared on dozens of these shows during his campaign last year.
Red Seat has particular cachet among conservative influencers, with clients including Bill O’Reilly, Carlson and Kelly, who all used to work at Fox News. The former TV hosts have since struck out on their own with podcasts that rack up millions of views online.
Fox chief executive Lachlan Murdoch last year said he was on the hunt for acquisitions.
“We do have the best [or] one of the best balance sheets in the business,” he told a conference in September. “We’ll use our balance sheet increasingly, I think, for M&A as we go forward.”
Fox reported net income of $388mn on $5.1bn in revenue in the three months to the end of December. The company had $3.3bn of cash on hand at the end of December.
Red Seat was founded by brothers Chris and Kevin Balfe, who previously worked for conservative commentator Glenn Beck at The Blaze.
Chris Balfe on Monday said the Fox deal would allow his company to “expand the services we provide to our creators, while continuing to maintain the independence and integrity of their brands”.