Streaming sports company Fubo is distributing its free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel Fubo Sports Network on a cluster of low-power TV stations across the country, The Desk has learned.
The company has partnered with HC2 Broadcasting to make its Fubo Sports Network available on broadcast TV for the first time — though whether antenna TV users will be able to pick up the signal will greatly depend on where they live and the type of equipment they use.
On Monday, Fubo issued a press release touting the distribution of Fubo Sports Network on free broadcast TV, claiming it would be available in more than 100 regional TV markets and reach viewers in major markets like New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago — the three biggest TV markets in the country.
The press release didn’t say which stations were carrying Fubo Sports Network, which offers mostly niche sports programming, nor did the company say how viewers can tune in.
Shortly after The Desk first reported on the announcement, a reader based in Houston said they were able to receive Fubo Sports Network on KEHO-LD (Channel 32), a low-power television station licensed to Innovate Corporation, whose local TV assets are entirely owned or controlled by HC2 Broadcasting.
The Desk later received information from a number of sources that Fubo Sports Network was being made available on low-power TV stations across the country, including in the three major markets initially cited in the company’s press release. The streaming network is available on such stations in 16 of the top 20 TV markets in the country, but none of them offer Fubo Sports Network on a full-power TV station, and none of the signals are offered in high definition.
In New York City, Fubo Sports Network is available on W02CY-D (Channel 45), a low-power TV station that transmits at just 500 watts from the top of Trump World Tower in midtown Manhattan. The radiating power of the signal makes the signal mostly available to broadcast TV viewers in New York City, but out of reach to most broadcast TV users in nearby New Jersey and Connecticut. By comparison, WCBS-TV (Channel 2, CBS) transmits at 20,000 watts from One World Trade Center and blankets most of the tri-state area.
In Los Angeles, KSKJ-CD (Channel 26) offers Fubo Sports Network on a digital sub-channel of its low-power station, which transmits from Mount Harvard at 1,200 watts, covering around 40 square miles of the immediate Los Angeles area. KCBS-TV (Channel 2, CBS) transmits at slightly over 51,000 watts from Mount Wilson and covers around 80 square miles of the Los Angeles market.
The low radiating power of low-power TV stations makes them notoriously difficult to receive, especially from those who use indoor antennas or who live beyond the border of a major city. Low-power TV stations are also typically not offered on cable or satellite, as they fall outside the “must carry” requirements imposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which puts the broadcast version of Fubo Sports Network out of reach of nearly everyone except those who have adequate TV reception equipment and who live relatively close to a low-power TV station transmitter — which isn’t always inside a major city.
That might explain why Fubo was light on broadcast distribution details in its press release on Monday — even if Fubo can technically claim it is available in the Los Angeles, New York City and Chicago markets, it can’t claim it has the same kind of reach as full-power network stations or affiliates as long as it is distributed on low-power TV. Whether the company can convince broadcast TV advertisers to buy spots within Fubo Sports Network is something that remains to be seen; in the meantime, the channel is still available on FAST platforms like Pluto TV and Xumo Play, where Fubo Sports Network programming is offered in high definition.
