Fox Nation’s Plan to Infiltrate Hollywood: Passion Projects, Not Politics

Don’t let the name fool you.

Fox Nation shares a Manhattan headquarters with Fox News Channel, but it doesn’t aspire to occupy the same niche as its conservative-tilted cable parent. Rather, the subscription streaming service has enlisted big Hollywood names (some of them, yes, well-known conservatives) to provide programming aimed at attracting its Gen X-focused audience.

Kevin Costner, Martin Scorsese, Rob Lowe and Kelsey Grammer have all made shows for Fox Nation in recent years. Jason Klarman, Fox News Media’s chief digital and marketing officer, said the platform has attracted top talent because there is in fact “nothing political” about their Fox Nation projects.

Of course, there is some political content on the service too, drawing upon Fox News’ resources and profile. Conservative activist Riley Gaines and commentator Tomi Lahren are both featured talent on the streamer. But Fox Nation wants to carve out its own space, one that isn’t wholly aligned with or dependent upon that of the mother ship.

Klarman said stars want to work with the service for one main reason: “It’s about their passion projects.” If a star has an idea they are enthusiastic about, Fox Nation wants to hear about it, he said.

That is how Fox Nation — which costs subscribers $5.99 per month — initially partnered with Costner in 2022, when his team presented the service’s brass with “Yellowstone 150,” a four-part docuseries narrated by the “Yellowstone” star.

“We hadn’t dealt with anybody at that level before,” Klarman said. “And so we bought it, marketed it and it blew up for us in a very big way. And I think a lot of people in Hollywood took notice that Kevin’s working with them.”

That partnership ultimately led to a second Costner series on Fox Nation, “Yellowstone to Yosemite,” which debuted earlier this month. The new series features Costner (and his white Labrador, Bobby) following in the footsteps of President Teddy Roosevelt and environmental advocate John Muir on their 1903 expedition to the California national park.

Klarman said the show hits one of the sweet spots for Fox Nation’s audience, which he described as “very outdoorsy.” About 40% of the service’s audience is under 45, he said, and the median age is around 48 — much younger than the on-air profile of Fox News. Fox Nation reported in March 2024 that it hit 2 million subscribers; Klarman declined to share an updated subscriber figure, but said the service has grown “considerably” since then.

Beyond Costner’s nature series, Fox Nation has leaned on true-crime shows — including “Cops,” which it revived in 2020 — and historical shows like Lowe’s “Liberty or Death,” a four-part docuseries on the Boston Tea Party, and multiple history series from Grammer.

“I have a long and enjoyable history with Fox Nation and its team of executives, including our recent collaboration on ‘George: Rise of a Revolutionary,'” Grammer said in a statement. “I am looking forward to viewers seeing our next series together, ‘Blood on the Bridge: The Battle of Lexington and Concord,’ and contributing to their fine tradition of programming not only in 2025, but in the years to come.”

There is also lighter fare, including “Hiking With Kevin,” the show comedian Kevin Nealon recently brought over to Fox Nation that he started on YouTube.

Faith-based content is another genre Fox Nation has seen resonate with its audience. That, coupled with the service’s openness to passion projects, is what led to Scorsese bringing “The Saints” to Fox Nation last year.

Religion — and in particular, Catholicism — has been a major theme in the famed director’s career, which includes movies like “The Last Temptation of Christ” and “Silence.” “The Saints,” an eight-part docuseries on Christian saints created by Matti Leshem and executive produced and narrated by Scorsese, continued that tradition.

“We saw an opportunity to partner with people who were aligned creatively with what we wanted to do,” Leshem told TheWrap. “The only hesitancy in making any show with any streamer is, ‘Do the people who you’re selling to understand your vision of the show creatively, and are they willing to support it?’ And all I can tell you is Fox Nation was [willing to support ‘The Saints’] when we sold it to them. And it turns out that they have been a perfect partner for me. I couldn’t be happier with how it’s gone.”

The series ended up being a hit with Fox Nation’s audience. A Fox source, without sharing specific viewership figures, said “The Saints” was the service’s most-streamed show in seven of the first eight weeks after it debuted in November, setting a Fox Nation record for most unique viewers in a single month in December.

Leshem credited Fox Nation VP Jonathan Towers for helping the show shine by offering some quality notes, without ever being “oppressive.”

Klarman said shows like “The Saints” are a reason Fox Nation has been around since 2018, while other cable channels — most notably CNN, which shuttered its CNN+ service three weeks after launching in 2022 — have struggled to make services work. Betting on talent that appeals to its Gen X-demo — stars like Lowe and Costner, who were big in 1990 and are still popular in 2025 — has been part of that strategy.

“I think we know our audience better than most people, and so we know where the right matches are and where the right fit is,” Klarman said.

Looking ahead, the future for Fox Nation is unclear. Fox Corp. earlier this month announced it is launching a new subscription streaming service by the end of 2025. CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the service will be priced “relatively low” and offer “existing content and existing brands.” The yet-to-be-named platform will provide a “holistic” offering of Fox programming, he added, including sports, TV shows and news.

A Fox spokesperson declined to comment on whether the new streaming service will affect Fox Nation’s status. (WarnerBros. Discovery, for example, lumped HBO content together with shows from Discovery and CNN when it launched Max in 2023.) For now, Fox Nation’s focus is on one thing: making shows that keep its millions of subscribers in the fold.

“When you’re creating a premium service, the content needs to be premium,” Klarman said.

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