Dozens of Spanish-language broadcast channels and cable networks owned by Televisa-Univision disappeared from Fubo on Monday after a contract to carry those channels expired without a new one in place.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Fubo exaggerated the situation by claiming that “thousands of Spanish-speaking consumers across the U.S. have lost access to local news and weather…as a result of Televisa-Univision pulling their programming off Fubo.”
Fubo has never released the number of customers who pay for its Spanish-language programming package compared to its two English-language plans offered in North America, so it isn’t clear how many Fubo subscribers don’t have access to Univision-owned channels through the service because of the situation at hand. That said, most Fubo subscribers can still receive their local Univision broadcast station or affiliate for free by using a conventional TV antenna, which will give them the same level of access to local news and weather that they had on Fubo before the dispute started.
As is the case in situations like this, the issue involves the amount of money Fubo must pay to Televisa-Univision in exchange for the right to distribute their broadcast and cable channels. While broadcast channels are free to receive with an antenna, Fubo also carried the national sports network TUDN (Tu Deportes Network), which offers live global soccer matches and other sports programming.
Fubo accused Televisa-Univision of not only demanding more money for its channels — supposedly, a 25 percent increase off its prior rate — but of siphoning off programming for its own streaming service, called Vix. Fubo claimed Televisa-Univision still requires its subscribers to pay for Vix separately — but Televisa-Univision has inked distribution with other pay TV platforms that give subscribers free access to the ad-supported version of Vix as part of their pay TV service.
It wasn’t clear from Fubo’s announcement if the company tried to forge the same type of agreement for its service. Fubo recently launched a streaming subscription marketplace that offers third party services like Paramount Plus to its streamers without a subscription to its base TV package — but Fubo hasn’t offered free access to network-owned streaming services like Paramount Plus as part of a traditional pay TV subscription, the way DirecTV and Charter’s Spectrum TV have over the past two years.
Rather than try to explain its situation, Fubo chose instead to paint Televisa-Univision as the bad guy in the ongoing dispute, writing that the broadcaster’s latest deal was unacceptable to its customers and investors.
“Fubo remains open to negotiating a new content agreement with Televisa-Univision, but it must be fair and equitable for our subscribers,” a Fubo spokesperson said. “That includes accessing Spanish-language content in our Latino plan at a cost that is competitive.”
A spokesperson for Televisa-Univision said the company had been “working in good faith to reach an agreement with Fubo to avoid this outcome, but they refuse to pay the market value that other distributors have agreed to.”
“Fortunately, our channels are broadly distributed across many platforms, ensuring our audience has plenty of options to continue enjoying our programming while we work towards a resolution,” the spokesperson said. (A source familiar with the matter said it was Fubo’s choice to pull Televisa-Univision’s channels from the platform while the broadcaster was working toward a new agreement.)
Fubo pointed out that its Spanish-language package still offers channels from BeIN Sports, Sony Television, the Walt Disney Company and Paramount Global. But the loss of Televisa-Univision channels is particularly problematic for the company, as Univision’s flagship broadcast channel is the most-watched among Spanish-language households in the United States.
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Editor’s note: This story was update late Monday evening to include a comment from a Televisa-Univision spokesperson, and with additional information on negotiations between the two companies.
