Earlier this year, Disney announced it was going to combine its Hulu + Live TV business with Fubo, bringing together both companies’ streaming television operations within a single company called Fubo, of which Disney will own 70%.  

Today, Fubo released its latest quarterly financial results, which revealed more details on its merger with Hulu+Live TV.

It was also announced that as of the end of 2024, Fubo TV had 1.7 million subscribers in the United States. However, following a recent carriage dispute with TelevisaUnivisio, the company is expecting that number to drop to between 1.43 million and 1.46 million subscribers.

With the news of the possible drop in subscribers and just some jitters from investors, the stock dropped 20% today.  Prior to the announcement of the partnership with Disney, shares were trading around $1, but tripled following the Disney news in early January. 

The new company will continue to be operated by Fubo’s existing management team, led by Fubo Co-founder and CEO David Gandler, who will operate the newly combined Fubo and Hulu + Live TV businesses.

Currently, Disney has announced that both Fubo and Hulu + Live TV will continue to be available to consumers as separate offerings, though it’s very likely that eventually, these services will merge for operational reasons to save money on development, advertising, and staff.

CEO David Gandler reminded investors that the deal between Fubo and Disney is still subject to regulatory approvals, which Senator Elizabeth Warrem has already highlighted for anti-trust issues. However, they are expecting the deal to be finalised in the first half of 2026.

“This combination will make Fubo the sixth largest player in the pay TV space by subscribers, behind larger players like Comcast, Charter, DirecTV, Youtube TV and Dish,”

The CEO also teased a new “sports and broadcasting service,” that will feature pro and college sports and is set to launch in fall 2025, which will be separate from the Hulu+ live TV deal, which “will offer even more consumer friendly bundles in a competitive industry”.

Fubo addressed the new deal with Disney’s Hulu+Live TV business in a statement.

“As we look ahead to 2025, Fubo remains focused on delivering to consumers an unparalleled streaming experience with multiple and flexible content options at appropriate price points. This is demonstrated by our recently announced business combination agreement with The Walt Disney Company’s Hulu + Live TV and our plans to launch a new Sports & Broadcasting service, both of which we expect to further scale our business, deliver additional compelling sports content to consumers and bring more competition to the industry. We will continue to provide periodic updates as the Disney transaction progresses.”

Roger’s Take: With the regulators still needing to confirm the deal, we are unlikely to hear much more about the process, especially about what could happen next after the deal is complete.  I’m still convinced they will move Hulu+Live TV into the Fubo app, since its not a core business for Disney Streaming and this is a way of continuing to offer traditional linear television via the internet, but I do question realistically how many cable customers are going to downsize to a streaming live tv deal, instead of just fully cutting the cord.

Do you think the Hulu+Live TV and Fubo deal will happen?  Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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