Last month, Fubo successfully delayed the launch of Venu Sports in an antitrust lawsuit against the joint sports streaming venture.
Sport Streaming Lawsuit:
- Deadline reports that Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery have laid out a case for the federal appeals court requesting the permission to resume the launch of their joint venture Venu Sports.
- Last month, a New York judge ruled in favor of the pay TV service Fubo in an antitrust lawsuit. The company claimed the mega media trio were positioning the new sports streaming venture as a way to put competition out of business. This prevented Venu Sports from moving forward with its intended Fall 2024 launch.
- The brief was submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Friday.
- Venu claims in the brief that “Programmers are caught in a perfect storm: content costs are rising while revenue is shrinking, both due to increased competition. To weather this storm, programmers have taken steps to diversify their distribution methods.”
- The appeal majorly focuses on the injunction and regaining the ability for Venu to operate commercially. However, this lawsuit brings questions forward about entertainment entities continuing to struggle with the ongoing balance of streaming services and the continuing decline of linear business models.
- The streaming service, which would cost consumers $43 a month, is set to offer 16 linear networks from the three media giants. The company claims that Fubo, as a competitor, is fighting a product that would benefit consumers.
- However, the original lawsuit claims that Fubo has attempted to offer a similar package to customers for years, with Disney, Fox, and WBD all forcing the TV service to bundle in unwanted channels and content, raising costs for consumers. Both DirecTV and Sling TV filed amicus briefs in support of Fubo.
- Fubo has until November 4th to file its response to Venu’s appeal.
Read More Venu: