In a major streaming shake-up, Disney and Fubo have struck a deal to merge their streaming services and pave the way for the launch of Venu, the joint venture Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery planned to debut last year.
Under the deal, which was officially announced Monday and is pending regulatory approval, Disney will merge its Hulu + Live TV streaming service with Fubo to form a new business that would be 70% owned by the former. The deal will not include the Hulu on-demand streaming service. Bloomberg first reported the deal.
While the businesses will combine, Hulu + Live TV and Fubo will remain separate offerings. Thus the number of streaming MVPDs will remain at five — alongside YouTube TV, DIRECTV STREAM and Sling — while the number of owners is reduced to four (Disney, Google, DIRECTV and Dish).
In return for the merger, Fubo has dropped its legal claims against Venu, the sport-specific joint streaming venture of Disney, Fox and WBD that was set to launch last August. Fubo filed suit to block the launch of Venu on antitrust grounds and won an injunction to block its launch. (Fubo’s argument was that Venu’s status as the only sport-specific streamer and its lower prices — $43 per month at launch — were only possible because its three owners force competing streaming services to offer low-rated non-sports channels as part of their carriage deals.)
Disney, Fox and WBD have agreed to pay Fubo $220 million, and Disney will add a $145 million loan next year as part of the merger deal.
Per Reuters, Disney, Fox and WBD were to ask an appeals court to reverse the injunction on Monday.
Venu was supposed to launch last year in time for the football season, but there are any number of major events it could launch aside in the coming month — from the College Football Playoff National Championship to the Super Bowl, which as a FOX broadcast would be available on the service.
