DIRECTV, DISH File Statements of Support for Fubo in Lawsuit Against Disney, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery
Live TV streaming operators are growing increasingly concerned about the new joint venture sports streamer from the three companies.
Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery may have unintentionally kicked a hornet’s nest. The three companies have been hard at work trying to ready their still-unnamed joint venture sports streaming platform since February, but for nearly all of that time, they’ve had to contend with an antitrust lawsuit brought by Fubo> to try and quash the nascent service before it reaches consumers. A report from The Wrap indicates that this week, Fubo’s case got some extra help in the form of written statements of support from the two largest satellite TV companies in the United States, DIRECTV and DISH.
- DIRECTV chief content officer Rob Thun said his company had “grave concerns” about the new streamer.
- DISH’s letter in support of Fubo was sealed by a federal court, as it contained private details about the company’s carriage deals.
- Executives connected with the joint venture streamer say they’re unconcerned about potential interference.
Thun’s letter lays out the argument that because Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery do not allow DIRECTV to sell slimmed-down channel packages that include their cable networks — either through satellite plans or DIRECTV STREAM— it is directly threatening competition in the industry by trying to sell such a package directly to consumers and cutting out the satellite company middle-man.
“DIRECTV has grave concerns about the effect that the sports content joint venture between the defendants in this case will have on competition for the distribution of sports programming. More specifically, the joint venture partners are offering content in a manner that they do not allow DIRECTV or other distributors to offer to consumers,” Thun’s affidavit filed on Monday reads. “Rather, the joint venture partners require that DIRECTV offers a large bundle of channels and do not allow DIRECTV to offer a smaller sports-focused bundle of channels.”
According to reporting from TheDesk.Net, DISH has also filed a letter supporting Fubo’s lawsuit. However, this letter contains “material information” regarding DISH’s carriage deals with Disney and Fox, some of which is covered by non-disclosure agreements. Therefore, none of its content can be shared with the public.
DISH’s support is likely helpful for Fubo, but the existence of the company’s live TV streaming counterpart Sling TV may undermine DIRECTV’s argument somewhat. Sling TV is exactly the type of slimmed-down channel bundle that DIRECTV argues it has been prevented from selling, but DISH found a way to create a smaller channel package while working with these three companies, which suggests that DIRECTV might have found a way to do the same if it had enough interest.
How Much Further Could Fubo’s Lawsuit Go?
Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery have already filed dismissal motions to try to get the lawsuit tossed. In the motion filed by Fox’s attorneys, the company said that Fubo’s desire to drag the three companies into court was “a transparent effort to protect its business from competition.”
“The antitrust laws exist to promote competition, not to protect Fubo from other competitors,” Fox’s motion reads.
Disney CEO Bob Iger was just as dismissive last week when he said in an interview with CNBC that each of the three companies involved in the joint venture were “proceeding as though we’ll prevail” against the lawsuit and a Department of Justice review.
Fubo remains undeterred for the moment. In late March, Fubo CEO David Gandler implied that his company was being overcharged by 30 to 50% for content from the three companies, and being forced to redistribute less-popular channels in order to be allowed to show more in-demand networks as well.
If the lawsuit continues despite motions to dismiss from Disney, Fox, and WBD, could other companies join it? Comcast may file a statement of support for the suit as DIRECTV and DISH have done; Comcast is one of the top cable providers in the country, and its executives had major questions about how the JV would coexist with larger cable plans like Xfinity TV when learning of its creation.
It now falls to a judge to determine what happens next with the Fubo lawsuit. Fubo filed a request for a preliminary injunction on Monday, which could halt all development on the streamer while the suit progresses. On the other hand, the judge could accept a motion from Disney, Fox, or WBD to dismiss the suit outright. The next couple of weeks could be critical for Fubo’s case, even though it now has the support of DIRECTV and DISH in its efforts to stop the JV sports platform from hitting the market.
Fubo
Fubo is a live TV streaming service with about 90 top channels that start at $79.99 per month. This plan includes local channels, 25 of the top 35 cable channels, and regional sports networks (RSNs). In total, you should expect to pay about $91.99 per month, after adding in their RSN Fee. Fubo was previously known as “fuboTV.”