Fubo Reports Adding 141,000 Subscribers in Q4 2023 to Bring Total Customer Base to 1.618 Million
The sports-focused streamer hit highs in subscribers and ARPU, but is that enough to save it from increased competition?
Fubo is preparing for the future, but it has to keep its focus on the present as well. The sports-focused live TV streaming service released its fourth quarter 2023 earnings report on Friday. March 1, and as part of the report unveiled that it had gained 141,000 customers during the quarter, putting its current total at 1.618 million in North America. The company also reported 420,000 subscribers across the rest of the world, bringing Fubo’s combined total to 2.038 million.
At the end of Q3, Fubo claimed 1.477 million subscribers, and announced its average revenue-per-user (ARPU) was at a record high of $83.51. ARPU is a crucial number in the equation of streaming profitability, and following Q4 of 2023 Fubo’s ARPU stood at $86.65, a new high for the company. That represented a 15% year-over-year improvement from the corresponding quarter in 2022.
Fubo’s reporting indicates that the sports-focused live streamer delivered double-digit year-over-year growth in total revenue, ad revenue, and paid subscribers. Of course, the fourth quarter is always a strong period for linear outlets, but especially so for those with a sports focus, because of the prevalence of NFL and college football. The nature of live TV streaming services means that Q4 is generally the peak of the subscriber cycle while the following first quarter comes back down with the lack of football for the majority of the three-month period.
“The fourth quarter capped a great year for Fubo, as we again exceeded guidance across key financial and operational metrics,” Fubo co-founder and CEO David Gandler said. “Our strong results in North America included 12% year-over-year growth in subscribers, 29% year-over-year revenue growth and a record $86.65 average revenue per user (ARPU). The quarter also marked a healthy year-over-year improvement in profitability and cash usage, reflecting the success of our continuing initiatives focused on adding efficiency across our operations. We remain confident in achieving our 2025 positive cash flow goal.”
Fubo stands far behind YouTube TV, which leads all live TV streamers and some cable distributors with 8 million subscribers. Hulu + Live TV also leads Fubo, as it carries 4.6 million customers currently. Sling TV last reported having more than 2 million customers, allowing it to stay ahead of Fubo.
What Were Fubo’s Top Stories of the Quarter?
By far the biggest news story concerning Fubo has technically occurred during the first quarter of 2024, but it bears mentioning nevertheless. Fubo has filed a lawsuit against Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery, attempting to halt the creation of a joint venture streaming service that carries the sports rights of all three companies. Fubo is fighting for its survival with the suit, but some experts are already casting doubt on whether the case will be successful or not.
“The results for the fourth quarter and full year 2023 demonstrate that Fubo continues to execute on our long-term strategy and that we are well positioned to capitalize on our aggregated and curated sports-centric entertainment offering, leveraging the evolving trends across the media and consumer landscape,” Gandler said following the earnings release. “These results are especially impressive given the years-long challenges Fubo has faced as a result of what we believe have been anticompetitive practices by The Walt Disney Company, FOX Corp. and Warner Bros. Discovery. As evident in the antitrust lawsuit we filed against these parties last month, their proposed sports streaming joint venture is only the latest example of the pernicious practices they have inflicted to suppress our business and harm consumers.”
Outside of its efforts to keep itself alive, Fubo’s biggest story of the fourth quarter was its agreement with Nexstar on a new retransmission deal for almost 90 local stations across the country in early January. That deal helped Fubo avoid a channel blackout, but as The Streamable predicted, it led to another $5-per-month price increase for Fubo subscribers.
Viewers also got their first look at Fubo’s updated user interface recently. Changes to Fubo’s interface first began to roll out on its Android mobile app in late January, with updates designed to help viewers navigate the streamer more quickly. In February, the streamer launched a wider series of updates to its user experience, with changes affecting most sections of the interface.
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.”