According to reports, Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox have all decided to abandon their plans for the platform.
According to The Hollywood Reporter and other sources, the long-awaited streaming service Venu Sports will not be launching any time soon. It was planned that Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox would collaborate to provide a streaming service that would focus on sports programs. In addition to the use of corporate jargon, there was no actual explanation provided.
"In a market that is constantly shifting, we came to the conclusion that the most effective way to satisfy the ever-evolving requirements of sports fans was to concentrate on the products and distribution channels that were already in place," the firms wrote in a statement.
As a result of the fact that Venu has been brewing for some time, we are assuming that this move will also involve some significant layoffs. In light of this, the corporations have expressed their gratitude to the Venu crew, whom they will continue to support throughout the transition time. They have stated that they are "proud of the work that has been done on Venu to date." The specifics of what this help will involve are not at this time available.
Legal issues that have been going on for a long time are probably the real reason for the shutdown. Fubo dropped an antitrust lawsuit and joined forces with Disney this week, which resulted in the disappearance of one threat. However, immediately after that, another threat emerged in its place. A pair of satellite television firms argued against releasing a pre-existing injunction that delayed the debut of Venu. This came just a few days after Disney announced an agreement to merge Hulu + Live TV with Fubo.
Both DirecTV and EchoStar have expressed their belief that the newly formed friendship between Fubo and Disney does not overcome the claimed antitrust issues that are associated with Venu Sports. In a letter that it sent to a judge, DirecTV stated that the joint venture "restores an anticompetitive runway" for the corporations, allowing them to "control the future of the live pay TV market." An analogous letter was written by EchoStar.
An unnamed source who is aware with Venu Sports informed The Hollywood Reporter that the decision to cancel the streaming service was reached within the past few days and that the legal problem that was discussed earlier played a role in the decision.