This came out over the weekend.

Comcast owns 9.3% of FuboTV

Quote:Comcast on Friday reported that it owns a 9.3% stake worth more than $300 million in FuboTV, which operates a sports-focused virtual MVPD and is getting into the sports betting business.

A number of programmers--including 21st Century Fox and ViacomCBS--acquired stakes of FuboTV as part of deals allowing FuboTV to carry their networks. Disney, which bought Fox, owned nearly 5% of Fubo when Fubo made its initial public offering last year.

Another interesting note here:

Quote:Comcast also owns a 33% stake in Hulu, which runs one of the biggest vMVPDs. It has agreed to sell that stake to majority owner Disney by 2024.

I think this is interesting because I wonder if Comcast plans to buy into FuboTV the way Disney has bought into Hulu Live.

If they do that and if FuboTV maintains its current trajectory of focusing on sports then I think it could be very interesting as far as sports contracts coming up.

Remember this tidbit as well...

FuboTV stock started to soar after they announced they could seek exclusive sports contracts

Remember that Comcast is dropping NBC Sports Network so I wonder where all this is going.

Viacom/CBS owns Pluto TV now as well. They have Big Sky Conference sports on there.

(02-16-2021 04:26 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  Remember that Comcast is dropping NBC Sports Network so I wonder where all this is going.

Honestly, I don’t even know if Comcast has a full picture of what it’s doing or wants to do. Not because of what’s to replace something like NBCSN, but more from this feeling of a long time waiting on what they would do after making the purchases they’ve done.

Their hands are in a lot of pots. But they don’t chase like Disney chases.

(02-16-2021 04:26 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  Another interesting note here:

Quote:Comcast also owns a 33% stake in Hulu, which runs one of the biggest vMVPDs. It has agreed to sell that stake to majority owner Disney by 2024.

IIRC, Disney, Comcast/NBC, and Fox each had 30% of Hulu at one point, presumably as part of agreements to put their companies' content on Hulu. There was an outside investor that had the other 10%, and they sold their share back to the other three, and Disney bought Fox, so right now Disney owns 2/3 and Comcast 1/3. I think the Comcast agreement to sell its Hulu share to Disney was part of a deal in which Disney sold Fox's share in a British TV company to Comcast.

(02-16-2021 04:48 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(02-16-2021 04:26 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  Another interesting note here:

Quote:Comcast also owns a 33% stake in Hulu, which runs one of the biggest vMVPDs. It has agreed to sell that stake to majority owner Disney by 2024.

IIRC, Disney, Comcast/NBC, and Fox each had 30% of Hulu at one point, presumably as part of agreements to put their companies' content on Hulu. There was an outside investor that had the other 10%, and they sold their share back to the other three, and Disney bought Fox, so right now Disney owns 2/3 and Comcast 1/3. I think the Comcast agreement to sell its Hulu share to Disney was part of a deal in which Disney sold Fox's share in a British TV company to Comcast.

When Murdoch sold his specific 20th Century FOX assets to Disney in 2018 it included Sky. Murdoch wanted full control of Sky before his asset sale to Disney but was stopped due to regulatory issues. Comcast became interested in Sky in 2017, before the Disney agreement.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sky-m...SKCN1GB2HG

(02-16-2021 04:48 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(02-16-2021 04:26 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  Another interesting note here:

Quote:Comcast also owns a 33% stake in Hulu, which runs one of the biggest vMVPDs. It has agreed to sell that stake to majority owner Disney by 2024.

IIRC, Disney, Comcast/NBC, and Fox each had 30% of Hulu at one point, presumably as part of agreements to put their companies' content on Hulu. There was an outside investor that had the other 10%, and they sold their share back to the other three, and Disney bought Fox, so right now Disney owns 2/3 and Comcast 1/3. I think the Comcast agreement to sell its Hulu share to Disney was part of a deal in which Disney sold Fox's share in a British TV company to Comcast.

You used to watch some things on Hulu for free as well.

I would speculate that Comcast could either begin their own cable replacement service or they could just buy a controlling stake in another one like FuboTV. Not sure which path would be more profitable.

But for example, I just dropped my cable recently because of the increasing costs. I'm one that tends to believe in the value of the bundle, but it continues to get out of hand.

Surely someone at Comcast can see the writing on the wall. Peacock seems like the first official salvo into the streaming world, but they can't stop there. They will need a product that competes with YouTube TV, Hulu, AT&T, and others.

(02-16-2021 04:48 PM)Wedge Wrote:  

(02-16-2021 04:26 PM)AllTideUp Wrote:  Another interesting note here:

Quote:Comcast also owns a 33% stake in Hulu, which runs one of the biggest vMVPDs. It has agreed to sell that stake to majority owner Disney by 2024.

IIRC, Disney, Comcast/NBC, and Fox each had 30% of Hulu at one point, presumably as part of agreements to put their companies' content on Hulu. There was an outside investor that had the other 10%, and they sold their share back to the other three, and Disney bought Fox, so right now Disney owns 2/3 and Comcast 1/3. I think the Comcast agreement to sell its Hulu share to Disney was part of a deal in which Disney sold Fox's share in a British TV company to Comcast.

The other investor was AT&T, which sold to Disney and Comcast after Disney had acquired a majority interest with its purchase of Fox assets. The Comcast-Disney deal had a number of moving parts, including how to share access to NBC shows with Peacock that were previously exclusive to Hulu.

In general, major channel owners like Disney and Comcast see significant value in ensuring the success of virtual cable offerings such as Fubo and Hulu + Live TV, as they provide some continuity for traditional cable channels while that industry is in decline due to cord cutting. It won't stop the trend, but it it could slow it. With respect to Disney, for instance, linear television remains the largest revenue source in its portfolio, even assuming normal business levels for theme parks and motion pictures.