FuboTV Adds Free Channels in Evolving Strategic Approach
FuboTV Adds Free Channels in Evolving Strategic Approach
Following the first quarter of the year, sports-focused live TV streaming service FuboTV reported a decline of 74,000 subscribers, which was expected following the end of the football season.
At the time, the company’s executives announced that they would be adding free, ad-support TV (FAST) channels to the service as a way to increase the platform’s value to consumers. On Monday, Fubo announced the launch of FAST channels from TMB (Trusted Media Brands), including FailArmy, People Are Awesome, and The Pet Collective — all of which are available now — as well as WeatherSpy, which will premiere on the service soon.
“As part of [our] strategy, we are focused on increasing the number of free ad-supported television channels, or FAST networks, offered on fuboTV,” the company said in a statement at the end of the first quarter. “We believe these channels will enable us to grow profitable ad revenue as they bring premium programming to our customers with minimal expected content costs. Recent FAST channel launches on fuboTV include Fox Weather, Revry, Revry News, Tastemade en Espanol, Tastemade Travel, and more.”
These channels join the 30 FAST channels already available on FuboTV — 20 of which have been added since the start of this year. The service has been adding both traditional and FAST channels recently; last week, Fubo welcomed cable staple QVC to the platform shortly after bringing GAC Living and JusticeCentral.TV to one of its add-on packages.
This comes at a time when the streamer is in danger of losing the Univision-owned Spanish-language channels due to a carriage dispute. By introducing more FAST channels, FuboTV appears to be finding ways to add more streaming options for its customers to keep them engaged with the service, despite growing competition and carriage fees.
“Launching FAST channels, like TMB’s popular brands, on FuboTV enables us to expand our programming offering while keeping costs low for consumers,” Henry Ahn, chief business officer, FuboTV, said in the press release. “These channels offer a wide range of sports, news, and entertainment content that are a perfect complement to FuboTV’s premium channels.”
The company's release also said that “the strategy [of adding FAST channels] aligns with an overall industry shift to ad-supported content as studies show consumers prefer these services over more expensive options.”
With 1.056 million subscribers, FuboTV has fewer subscribers than its rivals Hulu Live TV (4.3 million), YouTube TV (estimated 4 million) and Sling TV (2.49M), but more than Philo (800K).
Fubo
Fubo is a live TV streaming service offering a robust lineup of approximately 150 premier channels, with plans starting at $63.99 per month. This entry-level package provides access to local broadcast affiliates 18 of the leading 35 cable channels channels, and valuable regional sports networks (RSNs).