News Corp has quashed media talk of them getting into Free to Air television anytime soon.

News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller “I’ve been on record in the past about that statement, so I’m not going to give the rumours any momentum and there have been no meetings by myself or directors with Seven.”

It follows a reports that Lachlan Murdoch was recently spotted outside Seven’s Martin Place offices fuelling speculation about a deal in the pipeline.

Miller also confirmed News Corp has “no plans to get rid of our stake” in Foxtel.

“We’ve had no approaches and we’ve made no approaches,” he said.

As part of News Corp third quarter results Foxtel’s total closing paid subscribers were 3.541 million, a 21% increase compared to the prior year, primarily due to the launch of Binge and the growth in Kayo subscribers, partially offset by lower residential and commercial broadcast subscribers.

1.946 million of the total closing subscribers were residential and commercial broadcast subscribers, and the remaining 1.595 million consisted of Kayo, Binge and Foxtel Now subscribers.

As of March 31, 2021, there were 914,000 Kayo subscribers (851,000 paying), compared to 444,000 subscribers (408,000 paying) in the prior year.

Binge, which launched in May 2020, had 679,000 subscribers (516,000 paying) as of March 31, 2021.

As of March 31, 2021, there were 238,000 Foxtel Now subscribers (228,000 paying), compared to 338,000 subscribers (317,000 paying) in the prior year.

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