Disney networks continue to remain unavailable on YouTube TV without a distribution agreement in place; David Gandler comments on the Fubo, Hulu + Live TV merger; and former NBC analyst Bob Trumpy passes away. Plus news on The Ringer, the NHL Stadium Series, Audacy and NHL Network.
YouTube TV rejects Disney Election Day request
YouTube TV said Monday that it will not make an Election Day exception to its ongoing blackout of Disney-owned ABC, as Disney requested earlier in the day. In an email sent to Disney leadership and made public, YouTube TV said the proposal would result in confusion from its customers should ABC return for a day before being blacked out again the next day. The Google-owned company also said that “the vast majority” of its subscribers opted not to view ABC on the last two election days in the United States.
“Publicly resorting to the same tactic that Disney relied on in the past disputes fails to acknowledge the distinction between YouTube and other distribution platforms,” YouTube TV wrote Monday just after 5 PM ET, citing Disney asking DirecTV to lift a blackout of ABC during the 2024 presidential debate last September.
The company proceeded to urge Disney to restore all of its channels — including ABC and ESPN networks — while negotiations continue, saying that it could permit access within hours. Even if Disney were amenable, it is unknown if that timeline would allow for the networks to be restored in time for the Week 9 edition of “Monday Night Football.”
During the 2024 season, the Week 1 MNF game on ESPN and ABC was not available on DirecTV during an impasse that ended up lasting 13 days, but the two sides reached a deal ahead of Week 2. In September 2023, Disney and Charter resolved their dispute mere hours before QB Aaron Rodgers made his debut on MNF for the New York Jets.
Gandler: FuboTV, Hulu + Live TV customers do not overlap
Fubo co-founder and CEO David Gandler said on an earnings call Monday that the company’s recent merger with Hulu + Live TV would not result in any overlap between the two companies’ respective user bases, with Fubo TV focused primarily on sports and Hulu on general entertainment. While there is some overlap in terms of content, Gandler noted that Hulu has some programming not offered by FuboTV that “adds to the spectrum of offers” the combined company will be able to provide.
Fubo launched a sports skinny bundle in early September for $56/month, and Gandler said that it has expanded its reach to 80% of the country and is continuing to grow, all without cannibalizing the broader Fubo service.
Reporting separately from Hulu + Live TV, the Fubo streaming business possessed 1.63 million paid subscribers in North America on the quarter, up 1.1% YoY and the largest Q3 total in company history. Fubo’s quarterly revenue, however, declined by 2% from the previous year to $368.6 million. The merger with Hulu + Live TV is said to be creating the sixth-largest pay television service in the United States.
Gandler said Fubo is exploring how to benefit from the ESPN ecosystem of content, such as direct-to-consumer, radio and web-based content. “This is a funnel that we have never leveraged before,” he said, “so we think that there is probably significant untapped value for us to grow our sub base, again, profitably, which means it could have a very positive impact on our sales and marketing line.”
Former broadcaster Trumpy passes away at 80
Former NBC NFL analyst Bob Trumpy, who alongside Dick Enberg called the Super Bowl four times with NBC, died Sunday at 80. During his NBC tenure from 1978-97, which he also spent working alongside Don Criqui, Trumpy was also part of three presentations of the Summer Olympic Games and contributed to golf and boxing coverage
Before he started working in television, Trumpy was an accomplished TE with the Cincinnati Bengals. While still playing with the Bengals in 1976, he began hosting a one-hour sports show on WCKY-AM that aired ahead of “Monday Night Football” broadcasts. The radio program expanded to three nights per week the next year, and Trumpy decided to retire from professional football shortly thereafter in March 1978. Two years later, he proceeded to join WLW-AM, the flagship radio station of the Cincinnati Reds, where he hosted his program for a decade and collaborated with producer Doug Kidd.
After leaving NBC, Trumpy later worked as an analyst on Westwood One coverage of the NFL for seven seasons beginning in 2000.
Trumpy was honored by the Pro Football Hall of Fame as the recipient of the prestigious Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award in 2014. In addition, he was named Ohio Sports Broadcaster of the Year four times and became known as the “father of Cincinnati sports talk.” NBC Sports analyst and former Bengals WR Cris Collinsworth, who became the new host of “Sportstalk” on WLW-AM starting in 1989, called Trumpy the first person he knew “to make the jump to network television” and someone he “aspired to be,” per Joe Reedy of the Associated Press.
Plus: The Ringer, NHL Stadium Series, Audacy, NHL Network
- Max Kellerman and Rich Paul will be hosting a new video podcast for The Ringer, founder and host Bill Simmons announced on his podcast Monday after Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports had reported the sides were in talks a few days prior. Simmons said that the sports and culture podcast will begin later this year and air new episodes three times per week.
- NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced on ESPN “Monday Night Countdown” that AT&T Stadium will host the 2027 NHL Stadium Series featuring the Dallas Stars. The game will take place on Saturday, Feb. 20 and begin at 8 PM ET on ABC.
- Audacy has announced that it is partnering with former NFL LB Von Miller, who will host a new podcast titled “Free Range” starting on November 5. The company also revealed a strategic partnership with Golden State Warriors F Draymond Green last week for his eponymous podcast and enterprise, The New Media.
- Former Washington Capitals F Devante Smith-Pelly has been hired as a studio analyst at NHL Network where he will appear across programming. The addition comes one month after Patrick Maroon and Nate Thompson joined NHL Network shortly after retiring from professional hockey.
