In a key hearing on Tuesday, lawyers butted heads in the antitrust lawsuit filed by Fubo. The case is expected to have broad implications for the pay-TV business.
What’s Happening:
- Deadline reports that parties representing Disney, Fox, Warner Bros Discovery and Fubo met today in the U.S. District Court in Lower Manhattan.
- Fubo has requested a preliminary injunction to delay the launch of Venu Sports.
- The joint streaming venture by Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros Discovery was announced in February, which immediately prompted the suit by Fubo. Fubo claims the new service would cause “irreparable harm” to its pay-TV business.
- Venu would provide 15 linear networks owned by the 3 companies for $43 a month, which is well below the cost of Fubo and other similar services. The new service is intended to be a compliment to main TV bundles.
- Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch stated that Venu is projected to attract 5 million subscribers in its first 5 years.
- In his opening statement, Fubo lawyer Mark Hansen said the company has wanted to offer a “sports-only” service at a lower price point. He claims the three companies behind Venu have blocked them in creating it. In regards to previous conversations about the service, he stated “They’ve said, ‘Sure, you can have some sports, but you have to take a lot of other stuff.'” In return, it has prevented Fubo from offering the discounted service.
- Hansen also noted that Fubo’s quarterly earnings news from earlier in the day showcases a “path to profitability” if Venu is prevented from launching.
- Lawyers for Disney, Fox, and WBD declared that a ruling in Fubo’s favor is a breach of the free market and would prevent consumers from accessing new and better priced options.
- Wes Earnhardt, one of Disney’s attorneys, ripped into Fubo’s argument in his opening statement. “The Supreme Court has said that we are allowed to do what they say we are attempting to do,” he stated. Continuing he highlighted the presence of bundling in the TV business, exclaiming “If they wanted to complain about bundling, they should have come here 40 years ago.”
- U.S District Court Judge Margaret Garnet is hearing the case.
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