FuboTV and other smaller streamers are looking to take on Fox, Disney and Warner Bros.Discovery’s sports streaming joint venture in Washington, DC
FuboTV, along with DirecTV, Dish Network, and Newsmax, called for a public hearing on the future of pay-TV competition and its impact on consumers in a letter to Congressional leaders.
“Recent developments in the pay-TV market, including new joint ventures between major programming giants and streaming television services that control 80% of the nation’s live sports coverage, are raising serious competition concerns, and Congress Immediate supervision is needed,” the Fubo TV-led group said. The coalition said in a letter released Thursday.
The unnamed Discovery Sports platform from Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. has been touted as a game-changer for the cord-cutting-battered pay-TV market. But a consortium of streamers led by FubuTV believes the threat of new competition will limit access to live sports.
The sports joint venture, announced in February 2024, promises to offer a small multichannel offering of ESPN, Fox, TBS, and TNT, but channels such as NBCUniversal and Paramount are missing. “Americans love live sports and entertainment, and we expect Congress to ensure competition and choice in access to these programs,” the coalition’s letter said.
The full text of the coalition government’s letter is below.
To the Chair and Ranking Members:
We are writing to ask your Committee to hold a hearing on the future of competition in pay television. Recent developments in the pay-TV market, including new joint ventures between programming giants and streaming TV services that control 80% of the nation’s live sports coverage, raise serious competition concerns that demand immediate oversight from Congress. There is.
The joint venture between Disney, Fox and Warner is expected to launch this fall in time for the upcoming NFL and college football seasons. This joint venture will control approximately 55% of all live sports (regional and national) in addition to controlling his 80% of all live sports nationwide.2 Consumer interests are not being met when access to such an important industry, here live sports, is effectively controlled by three major programming companies who have decided to join forces rather than compete with each other. I can’t think of a scenario in the history of the United States where that would happen. .
To make matters worse, these large production companies impose anti-competitive and inflationary contract restrictions on their distributors that allow competing distributors to offer consumers their own unique ” The ban on offering live sports bundles would distance the joint venture’s streaming service from direct competition. By any measure, unless Congress and regulators intervene, this joint venture will ultimately dominate the live sports streaming market, driving out competition and making consumers fall in love with the live sports joint venture. right.
When a vertically integrated company has the power and incentive to drive out competitors, such as this joint venture, policymakers have traditionally stepped in to protect competition and consumers. For example, the Cable Act of 1992 prevented vertically integrated cable operators from discriminating against new entrants to the pay-TV business, namely the then-nascent satellite TV providers seeking to compete with cable for new programming access. Rules were enacted by Congress.
We are now at the same tipping point. The joint venture partners are demanding that competitors offer “huge bundles” of programming (as described by his Disney CEO)3) includes a number of undesirable but expensive channels, while its own JV service offers a much simpler package consisting only of the “must-have” sports channels. Americans love live sports and entertainment, and we want Congress to ensure competition and choice in access to these shows. We therefore urge you and your colleagues to hold a public hearing on the future of pay TV as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
FuboTV Inc., DirectTV, American Economy Liberties Project, Open Markets Institute, DISH Network, Newsmax, Inc., Sports Fan Coalition, Electronic Frontier Foundation