As the first round of the NBA Playoffs continues to light up TNT, Fubo appears no closer to carrying the channel.
On Tuesday, the sports-focused virtual MVPD announced that Discovery, TLC, HGTV, Food Network and other channels from the "Discovery" side of Warner Bros. Discovery's business have been pulled off the Fubo program guide amid a program licensing dispute.
"Fubo has attempted to renew with Warner Brothers Discovery our Discovery content agreement for its networks including Discovery, HGTV, Food Network and TLC, among others, and to obtain license rights for its Turner sports networks TNT, TBS and truTV," Fubo said in a statement.
"Fubo offered Warner Brothers Discovery market rates for its content and, despite Fubo’s efforts to negotiate in good faith, Warner Brothers Discovery did not provide any counteroffer, and insisted on continuing to offer us above-market rates for its content. Fubo views Warner Brothers Discovery's refusal to engage in good faith negotiations as another example of its abuse of massive market power that ultimately limits consumer choice," the vMVPD added.
You can read Fubo's full announcement here.
WBD responded with this statement: "Our priority is to deliver the best content, at the best value, to our fans wherever they want to watch it. We have been and remain ready and willing to work diligently with Fubo to reach a fair market agreement. We proposed an extension of our current agreement, with no changes or price increases, that would allow Fubo to continue carrying these networks, and it is unfortunate that Fubo has decided to alienate their own customers in this way."
Fubo's renewal talks with WBD are undoubtedly compounded by the antitrust lawsuit Fubo filed in February against the conglomerate and its partners in the sports streaming joint venture nicknamed Spulu, Disney and Fox.
Also read: Court Sets Preliminary Injunction Hearing Date in Fubo Antitrust Suit Against Spulu
Fubo claims that it and other pay TV operators have wanted for some time to license sports-centric channels like TNT without also having to also channels it would rather not carry. With its sports bundle, Fubo claims, WBD and the JV are doing just that while not allowing their pay TV partners to the same privilege.
"Warner Bros. Discovery has also denied our customers the choice of subscribing to their Turner sports content separately from Discovery content through a more affordable skinny sports bundle," Fubo added Tuesday. "Yet Warner Bros. Discovery has announced that it plans to make this must-have content available in its forthcoming sports streaming joint venture with The Walt Disney Company and FOX Corp. Warner Bros. Discovery's refusal to offer Fubo standard market terms and packaging flexibility are more examples of the unfair and anti-competitive practices it and other vertically integrated media companies have imposed on Fubo for many years."
For Warner Bros., meanwhile, add the Fubo dispute to a tense sports licensing renegotiation with the NBA ... which is going so badly, WBD's stock price descended to depths Tuesday not seen since the Great Recession.
