Skip to main content

Disney has struck deal to merge Fubo TV with Hulu + Live TV

Hulu will continue to operate as a separate streaming service without live TV.

By Joe Allen Jan 6, 2025 1:47 PM

Rafael Henrique / Adove Stock

Following a legal battle, Disney has struck a deal that will allow Fubo and Hulu to merge and launch an entirely new streaming service.

The road to the merger started last year when Fubo launched a lawsuit against Disney (a co-owner of Hulu) along with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery, on the grounds that those company’s plan to launch Venu Sports, a new sports-focused streaming service, was anti-competitive. Venu Sports is expected to launch in the fall and will be a sports-centric streaming service featuring ESPN, ABC, Fox, Fox Sports 1, Fox Sports 2, TNT, and others, with coverage spanning the NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA, and more.

Recommended Videos

Now, though, Fubo has announced that it came to an agreement with Disney to merge Hulu + Live TV with Fubo, creating a new multichannel video distributer. Disney will own roughly 70 percent of the new platform, which will be run by Fubo’s co-founder and CEO David Gandler. Hulu will also continue to operate as a streaming service without a live TV option.

In his statement on the merger, Gandler insisted that the deal would allow Fubo to continue to “deliver on our promise to provide consumers with greater choice and flexibility.”

“This agreement allows us to scale effectively, strengthens Fubo’s balance sheet, and positions us for positive cash flow. It’s a win for consumers, our shareholders, and the entire streaming industry,” he continued.

The lawsuit against Disney has been dropped because of the deal, which seems to give Disney an even bigger stake in the future of streaming. Fubo is much closer to linear TV

Joe Allen is a freelance writer at Digital Trends, where he covers Movies and TV. He frequently writes streaming… Read Full Bio

Topics

Streaming

FIFA’s Gianni Infantino Is Uglifying the Beautiful Game With $20 Billion Plot — But the Global Soccer Community’s Punching Back

People, Person, Crowd

For the better part of two decades, perhaps even more, corruption has allegedly run rampant within FIFA. Sepp Blatter, in particular, became the face of alleged extortion schemes, and he operated with impunity while at the helm of the organization for 17 years, from 1998 until his forced resignation in 2015 amid an FBI corruption probe. He’s banned for life from all football-related FIFA activities. If you’re new to the organization’s alleged deep connection to corruption, Netflix offers a brilliant 2022 documentary, FIFA Uncovered. In that documentary, Gianni Infantino appears in his previous capacity as Secretary General of UEFA (2009-2016) and later as the newly elected FIFA president, who vowed to root out corruption and hand the beautiful game back to the people where it belongs.

That, as it turns out, was all wishful thinking.

Escobar Cigars, Co-Owned by Nas, Drops Four-Profile Robusto House Blend Collection

Blade, Knife, Weapon

Imagine that, Nas is getting closer to ruling the cigar world. The legendary rapper’s Escobar Cigars, which he co-owns, is making waves with the launch of a new four-profile House Blend collection. The launch is in partnership with Cigar Chief, one of North America’s largest premium cigar retailers.

The Manual has not yet had the chance to do a taste review (a pack is on the way), but Escobar Cigars says the four-profile House Blend collection (Maduro, Premium Blend Connecticut, Habano, and Connecticut Robusto) “has its own distinct wrapper, filler, and strength profile,” and that “all four are rolled in 5 x 52 Robusto format using classic Cubano entubado construction.”

Is 21-Year-Old Jackson Koivun the Future of Golf? Scottie Scheffler Already Offering High Praise

Adult, Male, Man

The future is here, and his name is Jackson Koivun. The 21-year-old made only his third pro start over the weekend at TPC Twin Cities, where he fended off world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler to capture the 3M Open. It’s Koivun’s first PGA Tour win, but it’s not just that he won. It’s how he won that impressed the golf world, including Scheffler.

The Auburn alum entered the final day of the tournament with a three-stroke lead, and he didn’t let up. Koivun got off to a stellar start on the front nine. He later admitted that he had nerves heading into the back nine, but it didn’t show. Koivun posted two birdies on the back nine and finished the final round bogey-free. He’d go on to win by three strokes. He finished 5-under 66 on Sunday and set a tournament-record 25-under 259 total.