In a major shake-up of the streaming industry, The Walt Disney Co. has completed its merger of Hulu + Live TV with FuboTV Inc., taking a 70% stake in the newly combined enterprise.
The new company — retaining the Fubo brand and ticker symbol — boasts nearly 6 million subscribers in North America, making it the second-largest virtual pay-TV provider in the U.S., trailing only YouTube TV, which counts more than 10 million paying subscribers.
Under the terms of the deal announced in January and now formally closed, Fubo dropped its antitrust lawsuit seeking to block the proposed sports-streaming venture Venu Sports, a joint effort among Disney, Fox Corp., and Warner Bros. Discovery that has since been dissolved.
Disney holds about 70% of the combined company, with Fubo shareholders owning the remaining 30%. Both Fubo and Hulu + Live TV services will continue to be offered to consumers as "separate and distinct" streaming products, each offering tiers from slim bundles to full-service packages.
Fubo's advertising-sales group is set to move into Disney's broader ad-sales organization, expanding the company's reach in live-TV monetization. The new entity will continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FUBO.
The merger arrives amid accelerating industry consolidation as traditional TV and digital platforms compete for scale, sports rights, and sustainable profits. Analysts say the deal positions Disney-Fubo to compete more aggressively in live sports and bundled entertainment, a key growth area as cord-cutting intensifies.
For Disney, the transaction deepens its push into streaming and content bundling alongside Disney+ and ESPN+. For Fubo, which built its brand on live sports, the merger offers expanded reach, greater capital resources, and new content leverage.
In a related strategic move, Newsmax Inc. recently entered a multiyear carriage agreement with Hulu + Live TV, expanding the conservative-leaning cable news network's reach to roughly 60 million U.S. households.
In addition, Fubo's co-founder and CEO, David Gandler, joined Newsmax's board of directors earlier this year.
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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