Fox Corp. is the only of the four major broadcast networks in the United States to operate a network not tied to a major direct-to-consumer subscription streaming play. The company is also the only company among its peers to launch its own Web3 and NFT divisions dedicated to it.
Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier says the two things are related.
“We have a competitive advantage in building our business on blockchain,” he says. “It’s vertically integrated so he can invest in it, not SVOD. [subscription video-on-demand] Service; we don’t spend billions on content or focus on churn. ”
Variety Show Eddie Guy
Last year, Fox launched Blockchain Creative Labs, a venture company that is part of Bento Box Entertainment’s animation division. BCL’s Mission: To create, launch, manage and sell non-fungible token content and experiences and other digital goods.
But according to Collier, cash-in for the frenzy over NFTs as speculative digital collections isn’t a strategy. BCL’s long-term vision is to enable new business models for content distribution and consumer engagement. It’s about cutting out the middlemen in streaming platforms and one day allowing fans to literally own their favorite TV shows.
Commenting on Fox Corp.’s investment in blockchain, Collier said:
Collier credits his bosses, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, for fostering an entrepreneurial business culture that supports big bets. They are all in on blockchain, he says. “The Murdochs have always looked around and invested in successful ventures.”
Fox says it is ready to invest up to $100 million in NFT and blockchain initiatives and aims to show how serious it is in the field. In August 2021, Fox Corp. paid an undisclosed amount to acquire a minority stake in Eluvio, a startup designed to use blockchain to distribute and monetize premium his content. Own and provide access control.
BCL is led by Scott Greenberg, co-founder and CEO of Bento Box, which produced hits such as “Bob’s Burgers.”
“As an animation company, all of our assets are already digitized. Our content is built on databases,” he says. Adopting NFTs and blockchain “seemed like a natural evolution for us.”
Web3’s business potential extends far beyond what’s seen in today’s digital collectibles market, says Greenberg. Blockchain is the first to be able to grant real digital property rights. Greenberg offers the following thought experiment. Consider a Napster-like environment. Napster is the infamous peer-to-peer sharing service that he was sued for 20 years ago for facilitating rampant piracy. But instead of value-destroying free participation, the Web3 version gives content owners the ability to monetize every transaction. “We’re reinventing home video,” he says.
So far, BCL has created NFT drops for Fox’s “The Masked Singer” on a site called MaskVerse, and over 300,000 people have created digital wallets to collect NFTs. It also partnered with WWE, which airs “Friday Night SmackDown” on Fox, to release a digital collection.
The next big test of Fox and BCL’s blockchain ambitions is “Krapopolis,” a new animated comedy set in the mythical world of ancient Greece from “Rick and Morty” and “Community” co-creator Dan Harmon. “is. Ahead of the show’s premiere on Fox in 2023, BCL has launched his krapopolis.com.
The first collection of “Krap Chickens” launched on August 11th in the Ethereum cryptocurrency, equivalent to $184-$330 at the current exchange rate. NFT purchasers will be eligible for a variety of perks, including token gated access to content and private screening rooms, invitations to online meet-and-greet with cast and producers, exclusive first-look access to his upcoming NFT drops, and more. You have exclusive access. Vote on elements to be included in the show (for example, an episode’s end credits song). His NFT owners who amass enough credits may even be able to secure a spot as an “extra” in the series – with their likenesses appearing in the background characters of “Krapopolis,” says Greenberg. increase.
Krapopolis.com dropped 10,420 chicken NFTs (get the number pot joke?). For Harmon, it’s a series development process like no other, and the Maverick writers, understandably, do well with it.
“Krapopolis is unlike any other series I have worked on,” says Harmon. “Building a fully realized world and cast of strange characters on the blockchain has never been done before and in a way that no other show has in terms of fan experience. will be realized in
The “Krapopolis” project is not really about generating incremental revenue through the sale of NFTs, Collier reiterates. Speaking to Collier, Fox and the Blockchain Creative Lab are working together in the entertainment industry, much like Ryan Seacrest taught Americans how to write text on Fox’s “American Idol” in the early 2000s. Globally he will be at the forefront of demonstrating the value and viability of Web3.
But will these business models take hold and become the primary mechanism for content distribution? We believe that the next generation of Web3 audiences in the entertainment industry.
Greenberg recalls the popular baseball trope, stating that Web3 and NFT aren’t even out in the first inning. “We do batting practice,” he says. “The match hasn’t started yet. This is like AOL and he’s CompuServe coming up.”
Above: One of Dan Harmon’s upcoming Fox show’s “Krapopolis” chicken NFTs
