Fubo CEO Touts AI-Created Headlines as Key Differentiator for Streamer; More Updates Could Be Coming This Year
Speaking with Wall Street analysts, Fubo CEO David Gandler said these headlines were an important way to discover news content, particularly in an election year.
The tone at Fubo these days is not exactly easygoing. The streamer is facing an existential battle with Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery over the joint venture sports streaming platform the three companies are planning to release, and Fubo has filed a lawsuit to try and stop that streamer from ever reaching consumers. Differentiating itself from other live TV streaming services will be critical for Fubo, and its strategy for doing so hinges on the introduction of new features like its artificial intelligence-generated news headlines.
- Fubo CEO David Gandler pointed to AI news headlines as an important differentiator for the streamer, especially in an election year.
- Gandler also hinted at more new features in the testing phase, and said the unique structure of his platform allows Fubo to collect data on new features quickly.
- Fubo has utilized AI to gather customer data and aid in the creation of new features in the past, as well.
During Friday’s conference call with Wall Street analysts to discuss Fubo’s quarterly earnings report, company CEO David Gandler was asked which new features audiences could expect in 2024 that would aid in his stated desire to differentiate Fubo from competing services like DIRECTV STREAM and Sling TV.
Gandler touted the AI-generated news headlines feature that first began rolling out in late January. This feature generates a headline that overlays news channel tiles, showing viewers what’s being discussed on that channel in real-time so that they know at a glance if that channel is covering a topic they care about.
“So, if you’re talking about the elections, you’ll quickly see a headline change to whatever is there, so consumers are more apt to click on that,” Gandler explained, referencing the upcoming 2024 U.S. Presidential election.
How Else is AI Helping Fubo Stand Out?
Way back in 2021, Fubo purchased the India-based computer vision platform Edisn.ai. Gandler made no secret of his excitement for the future of Fubo and Edisin.ai at the time, saying the purchase provided “foundational back-end tech for our company.”
Gandler touted the “backend-driven” nature of his platform when discussing the differentiation question this week as well. He said that the structure of Fubo allowed it to test multiple features simultaneously and that the platform’s “flexible architecture” means it can roll out new features that test well to consumers very rapidly. He hinted that customers may see more new features heading to Fubo in the back half of 2024.
With apologies to Gandler, however, these answers may not be enough to satisfy viewers who are trying to choose between paying more than $90 per month for his service, or $40 to $50 for the Disney/Fox/WBD JV platform. AI-generated news headlines and the potential to quickly add other features are a good start, but will they truly matter in the eyes of consumers who are dealing with increasing stresses on their streaming budgets?
Take YouTube TV, for example. That streamer takes a slow and deliberate approach with new features, as it recently did with its “Last channel” shortcut rollout. But the pace at which YouTube TV introduces new features for customers has had no effect on its subscriber total; in fact, YouTube TV boasts the biggest subscriber count of any live TV streaming service, with 8 million total customers.
News headlines created by AI to show the viewer exactly what they’ll find on a given news channel is a helpful feature, but it may represent nothing more than Fubo trying to jam its finger in the dam. Such features can help differentiate streamers from competitors, but if the Disney/Fox/WBD service does eventually hit the market Fubo will need something much grander to fall back on to keep its customers engaged.
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, 19 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.”