Subscribers of Fubo’s sports-only package are engaging with other channels offered through the plan that have little nexus to sports, with one of the standout networks offered in the plan being the Fox News Channel, the streamer’s chief executive told investors last week.
During a conference call following Fubo’s fiscal third quarter (Q3) earnings report, CEO Alisa Bowen acknowledged the service is facing increased pressure from competitors that have offered their own sports plans, including Google-owned YouTube TV, whose package includes more channels.
But the slimmer plan offered by Fubo is not only competitive on price — it costs $55 per month plus tax, compared to YouTube’s $65 per month plan — it also offers a handful of other channels that are driving engagement from sports fans during the National Football League (NFL) and National Basketball Association’s (NBA) off-season.
“The Fox News component in our Sports package is something that’s particularly valued by our subscriber base and is working well for us,” Bowen said, though she didn’t offer additional insight.
Fox News is the highest-rated cable news channel, and often ranks as the top cable network overall, according to Nielsen’s weekly TV audience reports. The channel’s prime-time and late-night schedule is particularly strong, with shows like “Jesse Watters Primetime” and “Gutfeld!” routinely placing among the top 10 cable network broadcasts in America.
But one reason why it may resonate with Fubo Sports subscribers is because it is one of the few sources of national news programming offered in the plan. Unlike Fubo’s more-expensive packages, the Fubo Sports plan doesn’t include the streamer’s offering of more than 100 free, ad-supported TV (FAST) channels — which means Fubo Sports customers must use another platform if they want to watch programming from channels like NBC News Now, CBS News 24/7 and ABC News Live.
Curiously, Fox Weather is also not included in the Fubo Sports plan, though it is available in the other packages. Streaming, cable and satellite TV providers have bundled Fox Weather with Fox News Channel in recent years, so its absence on Fubo Sports is particularly interesting. (The Desk signed up for a free trial of Fubo to confirm the FAST channels are not offered in the Fubo Sports.)
Fox News aside, the only other source of news on Fubo are local broadcast affiliates that carry shows from ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC, which are available to most Fubo Sports subscribers. The inclusion of local network-affiliated stations is likely meant to ensure Fubo Sports offers games from those national broadcasters, with local news and syndicated programming being merely a value-add to those customers.
The country’s two other cable news giants — CNN and MS Now — are unavailable to Fubo subscribers due to a lack of distribution agreements with the parent companies of those channels. Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) has not offered its channels through Fubo for several years, and a recent agreement with Comcast’s NBC Universal to offer its channels through Fubo didn’t include renewed carriage of MS Now or other networks that were spun out into Versant earlier this year. (Fubo does have an agreement to offer Nexstar’s NewsNation, but it doesn’t extend to Fubo Sports.)
Turning back to the competition position of Fubo Sports, Bowen said there were opportunities for the streamer to continue competing with regional sports networks, even though local rights to NBA, Major League Baseball (MLB) and National Hockey League (NHL) games are being scooped up by local broadcasters or otherwise relegated to team-owned streaming platforms.
“The RSNs have been a long-term differentiator for Fubo in certain markets, and that ability to provide local sports gives us a competitive edge in certain packages,” Bowen said. She also noted that Fubo Latino, one of the few standalone Spanish-language packages on the market, continues to drive interest in the overall product.
“There are multiple different ways that we intend to continue leaning into these different market segments with different offers beyond just the sports and news package that we’ve been marketing during the World Cup,” Bowen said.
