Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch On Tom Brady, Hollywood’s Covid Protocols And “Bloodbath In The SVOD Market”

deadline.com:

Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady will be much more than a Sunday night analyst for Fox Sports but a partner after inking a deal said to be worth $375 million over ten years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback.“The important thing with Tom, what got me really engaged and excited about the opportunity, is that in addition to being a senior analyst on Sundays, he will be our partner in sports.

An ambassador for Fox. Working with advertisers and clients. Engaged in the marketing. He will be a tremendous analyst and a partner of ours,” Murdoch said during a long Q&A at the MoffettNathanson media conference. (Fox has disputed the Brady price tag, which was reported in its own New York Post, saying it’s “not an accurate reflection of the deal.”)Brady starts whenever he retires.

In remarks at the Fox upfront presentation Monday he gave a strong hint, saying he was looking forward to joining the Fox team for Super Bowl 57.Murdoch also indicated he’d like less restrictive Covid protocols for production, which he said were behind a $30 million write-down on scripted programming that squeezed earnings last quarter as Covid production delays. “It was a prudent write-down, but related to Covid-delayed production schedules.

I should say, we are operating with Covid protocols designed at the height of the pandemic, before vaccinations, with potentially stronger strains of Covid-19.