Fox Entertainment Group

This article is about the defunct company. For the present company owned by Fox Corporation, see Fox Entertainment.

Fox Entertainment Group

Logo used until 2019
Company type	Division
Traded as	NYSE: FOX
Industry	Film television
Predecessor	TCF Holdings
Founded	January 23, 1990; 34 years ago (1990-01-23)
Founder	Rupert Murdoch
Defunct	March 20, 2019; 5 years ago (2019-03-20)
Fate	Assets dispersed to other Disney divisions Name reused (without the word "Group") by Fox Corp. for its entertainment assets.
Successors	The Walt Disney Company Walt Disney Studios Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Fox Entertainment (division of Fox Corporation, successor of the reused unit name for Fox Corp. entertainment operations without using the word "Group")
Headquarters	Fox Plaza, Century City, Los Angeles, California , U.S.
Products	Motion pictures television programs
Revenue	$13.28 billion USD (2012)
Operating income	$3.3 billion USD (2012)
Net income	$4.98 billion USD (2012)
Number of employees	12,100 (2012)
Parent	News Corporation (1990–2013) 21st Century Fox (2013–2019)
Subsidiaries	20th Century Fox Fox 2000 Pictures Fox Music Fox Searchlight Pictures Fox Star Studios (JV with Star India) Fox Studios Australia FoxNext Hulu (30%) Regency Enterprises (20%)

The Fox Entertainment Group (FEG) was an American entertainment company specialized in filmed entertainment owned by 21st Century Fox. Following the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, the group's assets were dispersed to various Disney units. The film studios 20th Century Fox (now known as 20th Century Studios), Fox Searchlight Pictures (now known as Searchlight Pictures) and Fox 2000 Pictures were transferred to Walt Disney Studios, while Fox Star Studios (now known as Star Studios) transferred to Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International.^[1]

Its former owner, 21st Century Fox, previously known as News Corporation, acquired all the stock of Fox Entertainment Group in 2005. In 2013, News Corporation was renamed 21st Century Fox and its publishing assets were spun off into the newly formed News Corp as part of a corporate reorganization.^[2][3]

FEG was indirectly named after William Fox, who created Fox Film. This would eventually merge with Twentieth Century Pictures to become 20th Century Fox (now known as 20th Century Studios).^[4]

History

Fox Entertainment Group formed in the 1980s after the purchase of the Metromedia-owned independent stations by the 20th Century Fox film studio, at the time jointly owned by Australian-American media mogul Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, and Denver billionaire Marvin Davis.^[5][6] These stations would later become the foundation of the Fox television network (launched in October 1986), which would become the foundation of the company (named after the TV network) itself. Not long after the Metromedia deal was made, Murdoch purchased Davis's shares and News Corp assumed full control of the film studio, which was then placed within Fox Entertainment Group.^[7]

In 1995, Saban entered into a joint venture with the Fox children's television network to form Fox Kids Worldwide, which was best known for the first ten Power Rangers series. In 1997 it was renamed Fox Family Worldwide.^[8] On July 23, 2001, it was announced that Fox Family Worldwide (now ABC Family Worldwide Inc.) would be sold to Disney from News Corporation and businessperson Haim Saban.^[9] On October 24, 2001, the sale was completed.^[10]

On March 20, 1998, Fox Entertainment Group (under the management of Rupert Murdoch) purchased Los Angeles Dodgers from Peter O'Malley on $311-million of dollars. On January 20, 2004, Fox Entertainment Group sold the Los Angeles Dodgers team to Frank McCourt.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

On August 14, 1998, Fox launched an initial public offering as a publicly traded company, trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE,) while Fox Entertainment Group's address has been moved from Los Angeles to New York City.^[16] The company has traded on the NYSE since its launch under ticker symbol FOX until its acquisition in 2005 by News Corporation.^[17]

In January 2005, shortly after News Corporation reincorporation in the United States, News Corp announced that it was offering $5.9 billion to buy out the remaining 18% of shares in Fox that News Corporation did not already own.^[18] The maneuver delisted Fox from the New York Stock Exchange; Fox Entertainment Group traded on the NYSE under the ticker FOX.^[19]

In 2012, Rupert Murdoch announced that News Corporation would be split into two publishing and media-oriented companies: a new News Corporation, and 21st Century Fox, which operated the Fox Entertainment Group and 20th Century Fox and other studios. Murdoch considered the name of the new company a way to maintain the 20th Century Fox's heritage as the group advances into the future.^[20][21]

In January 2017, Fox Entertainment Group and 20th Century Fox formed FoxNext, which would handle video game developments, VR experiences and theme park businesses.^[22]

After Disney completed the acquisition of the 21st Century Fox assets on March 20, 2019, Fox Entertainment Group assets became Disney properties and are now reorganized under other Disney units.^[23] The Fox Entertainment name would later be used by the Fox Corporation for its entertainment assets.^[24]

Units

Transferred to The Walt Disney Studios

• 20th Century Fox, renamed to 20th Century Studios
  • 20th Century Fox Animation, renamed to 20th Century Animation
    • Blue Sky Studios, closed on April 10, 2021
  • 20th Century Fox Games, renamed to 20th Century Games
  • Fox Family, renamed to 20th Century Family
    • Fox Family Entertainment
  • New Regency Productions (20%, joint venture with Regency Enterprises)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures, renamed to Searchlight Pictures
• Fox 2000 Pictures, dissolved on May 14, 2021
• 20th Century Fox Consumer Products, folded into Disney Experiences
• Fox Music, folded into Disney Music Group
• Zero Day Fox, renamed to 20th Digital Studio before dissolving on October 9, 2023
• Boom! Studios (minority stake)
  • Fox Studios Australia, renamed to Disney Studios Australia
  • Fox Stage Productions, folded into Disney Theatrical Group

Transferred to Walt Disney Television

• 20th Century Fox Television, renamed to 20th Television
  • Fox 21 Television Studios, renamed to Touchstone Television before merging with 20th Television on December 1, 2020
  • Fox Television Animation, renamed to 20th Television Animation

Transferred to Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International

• Fox Star Studios, renamed to Star Studios
• Hulu (30%)
• Hulu Documentary Films
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, renamed to 20th Century Home Entertainment before being folded into Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment in 2020
  • Fox-Paramount Home Entertainment (joint venture with Paramount Home Media Distribution)

Transferred to Disney Parks, Experiences and Products

• FoxNext, closed on January 23, 2020 and sold to Scopely
  • Aftershock Studios
• 20th Century Fox World (license to Resort World by Genting Group)

See also

• Fox on Demand

References

1. Hipes, Patrick (March 22, 2019). "After Trying Day, Disney Sets Film Leadership Lineup". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
2. "News Corp confirms plan to split the media giant". BBC News. June 28, 2012. Retrieved June 28, 2012.
3. "News Corp. Will Use Fox Name as Breakup Proceeds". Bloomberg. Retrieved December 3, 2012.
4. "The Formation of Twentieth Century-Fox". Cobbles. United States. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
5. Thomas C. Hayes (June 20, 1984). "Rich to Sell Fox Stake to Davis". The New York Times.
6. Cole, Robert J. (May 7, 1985). "Murdoch to Buy & Tv Stations; Cost $2 Billion". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 12, 2019.
7. Wolff 2010, p. 167.
8. "Fox Family Worldwide Inc". Saban. Archived from the original on February 11, 2008. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
9. "News Corp. and Haim Saban Reach Agreement to Sell Fox Family Worldwide to Disney for $5.3 Billion". saban. July 23, 2001. Archived from the original on April 21, 2009. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
10. "Haim Saban". Saban. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Retrieved February 23, 2009.
11. "Fox Group Reaches Deal to Buy Dodgers".
12. "When Rupert Murdoch and Fox owned the Los Angeles Dodgers".
13. "Owners Approve Sale of Dodgers to Murdoch".
14. "Murdoch's Dodgers sell for $400 mil".
15. "Fox Entertainment sells Los Angeles Dodgers for $US430m".
16. EDGAR Filing Documents for 0000950130-98-004085
17. FOX ENTERTAINMENT GROUP INC (FOX) IPO – NASDAQ.com
18. Lazaroff, Leon (January 11, 2005). "Murdoch to buy out Fox shares". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
19. "News Corporation Completes Acquisition of Fox". News Corp. Archived from the original on May 13, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2012.
20. Welch, Chris (May 9, 2013). "21st Century Fox logo unveiled ahead of News Corp split". The Verge. Retrieved May 9, 2013.
21. Rushe, Dominic (June 18, 2013). "Rupert Murdoch splits empire but keeps faith in tomorrow's newspapers". The Guardian. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
22. McNary, Dave (January 18, 2017). "Fox Amps Up Immersive Business With FoxNext, Taps Salil Mehta". Variety. Retrieved January 19, 2017.
23. Littleton, Cynthia (March 19, 2020). "Disney Closes $71 Billion 21st Century Fox Deal". Variety. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
24. Holloway, Daniel (October 19, 2018). "Charlie Collier Named Fox Entertainment CEO; Gary Newman Exits". Variety. Retrieved July 9, 2019.

Works cited

• Wolff, Michael (2010). The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch. New York City: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4090-8679-6.

External links