Steve Tomsic
Chief Financial Officer at FOX
Thanks, Lachlan, and good morning, everyone. Fox delivered strong financial results for fiscal 2023, with total company revenue growth of 7% and record EBITDA. Advertising revenues across the company were up 12%, led by a 17% increase at our television segment, made all the more impressive when comparing against revenues generated from last year's broadcasts of Thursday Night Football. This growth was driven by a banner year of events including the record-breaking Super Bowl LVII, FIFA Men's World Cup and the midterm election cycle along with the considerable momentum we are driving at Tubi.
We completed approximately one-third of our distribution renewals this year, supporting the lift in our total company affiliate fee revenues of 3%. As signaled previously, the impact from these initial renewals primarily benefited our television segment, leading to an 8% increase year-over-year. Total company other revenues saw a 5% increase, a result of the full year impact of MarVista, TMZ and Studio Ramsay Global, which were acquired in fiscal '22 along with the higher Fox Nation subscription revenues.
From a bottom-line perspective, this robust companywide revenue growth was the key driver of the 8% increase in full year EBITDA to $3.19 billion. Net income attributable to stockholders was $1.24 billion, or $2.33 per share, up versus the $1.21 billion or $2.11 per share reported in fiscal '22. As you may recall, other net was impacted this year by charges associated with the Fox News Media litigation and the gain associated with the change in fair value of the company's investment in Flutter. Excluding this impact and other non-core items, full year adjusted net income increased 17% to $1.87 billion, with adjusted EPS up 26% to $3.51 per share.
Turning to our fiscal fourth quarter results, Fox delivered total company revenues of $3.03 billion, which is consistent with the amount reported in Q4 fiscal '22. Quarterly EBITDA was $735 million, down from the $770 million in the prior year. This was largely due to the cyclical comparison with the prior year's midterm election and advertising impacts on our Fox News and Fox Entertainment businesses, along with a modest increase in overall expenses.
Total company affiliate revenues grew 3% in the quarter as the pricing benefits from our recent renewals were partially offset by the impact of industry subscriber declines. Total company advertising revenues decreased 4%, which was primarily a result of lower political advertising revenues at our television stations, especially when compared to our record June quarter last year, along with the impact of a softer direct response marketplace at Fox News Media.
The momentum we have seen at Tubi throughout the fiscal year accelerated in our fourth quarter, with revenue up 47% on the back of increased engagement and stable pricing. Total company other revenues were essentially unchanged from the prior year. Growth in total company expenses was held to 1% and included investments at Tubi, albeit at a slower rate than Tubi's revenue growth and the expansion of the USFL as well as higher programming rights, amortization and production costs at Fox Sports.
Net income attributable to stockholders of $375 million, or $0.74 per share, was up versus the $306 million or $0.55 per share reported in the prior year quarter, as the EBITDA movements just described, along with the restructuring and other below the line of costs were more than offset by the mark-to-mark increases of our investment in Flutter. Excluding non-core items, adjusted net income in the quarter increased to $443 million and adjusted EPS increased 19% to $0.88 per share.
Now, turning to the quarterly results of our main operating segments. At Cable Networks, fourth quarter revenue saw a 3% decrease year-over-year. Cable affiliate fee revenues were down 2% in the quarter, as pricing gains from our affiliate renewals were more than offset by net subscriber declines of approximately 8%. Cable advertising revenues fell 11%, largely on the back of the softer direct response marketplace at Fox News, while cable other revenues increased 7%, led by revenues generated by the second season of the USFL. Quarterly adjusted EBITDA at Cable was down 7%, as these revenue impacts were partially offset by lower expenses led by lower digital and news gathering costs at Fox News Media, partially offset by higher costs associated with the USFL.
Our Television segment reported 4% growth in quarterly revenues, this was led by a 9% increase in television affiliate fee revenues as healthy growth in pricing across Fox owned and operated and Fox affiliated stations continued to outpace the impact from subscriber declines. Television advertising revenues fell 1% as the strong growth at Tubi was offset by lower off-cycle political revenues and a slower rebound in the base market at the Fox television stations and lower ratings at Fox Entertainment.
Television other revenues grew 8% in the quarter, primarily a result of increased activity at our entertainment production companies. Quarterly adjusted EBITDA at our television segment remained flat compared to the prior year quarter, as the increase in revenues was offset by higher expenses where we had higher programming rights amortization and production costs at Fox Sports.
Costs at Tubi were also higher than the prior year. However, this was outpaced by the rate of revenue growth to deliver improved EBITDA in the quarter. During the full year, we generated free cash flow, which we define as net cash provided by operating activities less capex of $1.4 billion inclusive of legal settlement payments.
Before we get to capital allocation and balance sheet, it is worth noting some key items for fiscal '24. We will of course be comparing to the Marquee Events of fiscal '23, including the Super Bowl and the midterm election cycle, as well as transitioning to the first year of our NFL rights renewal and broadcasting our first UEFA European Championship. At the cable sports networks, we expect margins to improve in fiscal '24, reflecting our disciplined approach to college sports rights renewals net of sublicensing income. In terms of affiliate revenue, we make no predictions on industry subscriber volumes. However, as we've previously indicated, we have another third of our total company distribution revenues up for renewal this year, and expect to see the benefit of those renewals towards the back half of the year and skewed towards our television segment.
We expect to continue to invest in our growth initiatives, here Tubi will be the focus of investment spend, with the collective portfolio expected to deliver EBITDA in line or better than fiscal '23. And from a cash flow perspective, we expect Fox will be subject to the new Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax beginning this fiscal year. This will not impact our P&L tax provision, but will likely elevate our cash taxes in the near term. However, we still expect to realize the full benefit of our cash tax asset over time.
Returning to capital allocation, over the course of fiscal '23, we returned $2 billion of capital through the repurchase of 46 million Class A shares and 7.5 million Class B shares. This includes the cash impact of our previously announced $1 billion accelerated share repurchase transaction. This buyback activity was supplemented by over $260 million in dividend payments in the year and underlining our continued commitment to shareholder returns. Today we announced an increase in our semiannual dividend to $0.26 per share. With the payment of this dividend, we will have cumulatively returned over $6 billion of capital to our shareholders since the spin in 2019. This includes over $4.6 billion of share repurchases, including the ASR, representing over 22% of our total shares outstanding since the launch of the buyback program in November 2019. This is all supported by the strength of our balance sheet, whereas Lachlan mentioned we ended the quarter with $4.3 billion in cash and approximately $7.2 billion in debt.
Fiscal 2023 was another year of strategic focus and strong execution at Fox. That, combined with the most robust balance sheet in the industry, supports our ongoing commitment to capital returns as well as flexibility to pursue value-accretive investment. And with that, let's turn the call back to Gabby to get started with Q&A.
