Fox One, Fox Corp.’s flagship streaming service that launched last August, is preparing for its largest product moment to date with the upcoming World Cup. Amit Dudakia, SVP & Head of Product for Fox’s direct to consumer business, recently joked that the event “feels like another launch,” just nine months after the first one.
“And it’s not just about more content,” Dudakia told SBJ. “It’s about introducing a set of features that are going to set the foundation for what the Fox One product experience is going forward.”
Dudakia detailed several new, tech-infused features that will debut with Fox One’s World Cup coverage (Fox Sports is the U.S. English language broadcast rights holder). The core focus of the upgrades, he said, is to serve casual soccer fans who drop in for the World Cup to follow the action collectively.
- Enhanced Multiview: Fox One already includes a multiview function for live sports, but it’s contained to preset options. For the World Cup, Dudakia said the platform will for the first time offer viewers the ability to customize their multiview windows, including camera feeds isolated on individual players.
- In-Stream Stats: Viewers will also be able to configure a new L-bar in their livestream window with match stats and insights.
- Key Plays Rewind: Separate from Fox One’s existing, “catch me up” highlight feature, this replay feature will allow viewers to replay key moments of a match -- and toggle back to live viewing -- within the playback window.
- Customizable Dashboards: Outside of live match viewing, Fox One is rolling out a module within its app called “Canvas” that serves as a hub for World Cup-related coverage, including live standings, power rankings and schedules. Dudakia said each viewers’ dashboard is configured based on their stated preferences while onboarding into the app.
“Since we launched [Fox One], it’s really been hyper-care mode -- making sure it’s stable,” Dudakia said. “Now we get to shift gears and flex a bit of muscle in terms of what we see as an innovative experience that’s built around live.”
Dudakia also noted that Fox One layers artificial intelligence throughout its app experience for personalization. The idea is for the AI to function as an invisible layer, underpinning features like Fox’s “Ask Fox” virtual assistant and generative AI-powered insights.
“When it’s [AI] executed well, it’s not something a user should see,” Dudakia said. “The carousels that you see are going to be tailored to you. The content within those carousels is tailored to you. And even in ‘Ask Fox,’ the start prompts, those are tailored to you as well. It’s a mix of personalization in addition to what’s trending out there in the world.”
Dudakia said work on World Cup-specific product developments within Fox One started around January, with the effort spanning departments like product, engineering and marketing.
“This is something that’s come together fairly quickly,” he said. “The good thing is this team that is supporting Fox One, the underlying platform, we’ve been through this before. This is the same [tech] stack and platform that supported the Super Bowl on Tubi. We’ve done multiple Super Bowls, multiple World Cups. This is a muscle that the Fox team has flexed multiple times. It’s just a new product experience that we’re bringing to light.”
