Fubo Provides Update On Merger With Hulu + Live TV

Earlier this year, after a lengthy and expensive court case following the announcement of the ill-fated brand new sports streaming service called “Venu Sports”, which was going to bring together all of ESPN’s, Warner Bros. Discovery and FOX’s sports content into one place.  Disney announced it was going to be combining its Hulu + Live TV service with Fubo TV, with Disney taking a majority stake in the Fubo, which saw all litigation dropped and the launch of “Venu Sports” cancelled.

The combined business will apparently continue to operate under the Fubo brand and will be led by the existing Fubo management team; Fubo and Hulu + Live TV will continue to be available to consumers as separate offerings.

Today, Fubo released its latest quarterly financial results and provided an update on the upcoming merger of Hulu + Live TV and Fubo, stating:

“We remain excited about our agreement with The Walt Disney Company to combine Fubo with Hulu + Live TV, and its potential to increase competition and consumer choice in the Pay TV space. We continue to work through the regulatory process, and look forward to sharing more information when we are able.”

However, while Fubo was able to increase its revenue, bringing in $407.9 million, which is up about 3.5% on previous year, it has lost subscribers, dropping from 1.67 million subscribers at the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, to 1.47 million at the end of the latest quarter.

Fubo is focused on reducing spending and offering skinny bundles of sports channels, with the idea that the merger with Hulu + Live TV will help reduce its costs.

Roger’s Take: While I don’t think the merger of Hulu + Live TV and Fubo is necessary, as audiences continue to pull away from traditional cable television, together, they might be able to keep some subscribers in place for a few more years.  Also, it will likely help fix Disney’s problem with Hulu + Live TV not fitting in with the future of Hulu and Disney+.  There is also a big question mark over the deal under the current administration, about whether or not it will be able to go ahead.  But in the long run, subscribers are continuing to leave these cable-light platforms and are just streaming directly.

Do you think Fubo and Hulu + Live TV together will work?  Let me know on social media!