fuboTV (NYSE:FUBO) executives used the company’s fiscal first-quarter 2026 earnings call to outline early progress integrating Hulu + Live TV following the businesses’ combination, while also addressing advertising initiatives, packaging strategy, and the recent loss of NBCUniversal content on the Fubo-branded service.
First quarter as owner of Hulu + Live TV
CEO and co-founder David Gandler said the quarter was the company’s first as owner of Hulu Live and “validated the strategic rationale behind the combination,” citing greater scale, broader distribution, and improved economics.
Advertising integration with Disney Ad Server
Gandler said the company is nearing completion of stage one of its integration plan: migrating Fubo’s ad tech into the Disney Ad Server. Once live later in the month, Fubo ad inventory would be sold alongside Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu inventory. Management said it expects the change to drive a “meaningful uplift” in both CPMs and fill rates.
In Q&A, Gandler described the advertising integration as straightforward, emphasizing Disney’s established ad-selling operation. He said the company expects to see an impact “as soon as it’s integrated towards the end of the quarter or maybe slightly thereafter.”
CFO John Janedis provided additional context on synergy expectations first presented in a deck released last January. Janedis said the company had expected and assumed $120 million or more in synergies and that the deck assumed those synergies occurred on “day one” as a simplifying assumption, though the company expects benefits to flow in over time. He said the Disney Ad Server integration is expected to come first and described the CPM and fill opportunity as “both in the double digits,” referencing Fubo standalone advertising around “$100 million-ish” historically.
Consumer strategy: Fubo Sports, ESPN distribution, and Spanish-language focus
Gandler said stage two of the integration plan is focused on the consumer and highlighted traction for the company’s “well-priced” Fubo Sports service, which he said includes major networks such as ESPN, ABC, CBS, and Fox.
Management also announced it is working with ESPN to include Fubo Sports in ESPN’s “Commerce Flow,” allowing customers to purchase Fubo Sports alongside other ESPN offerings and watch directly on the Fubo app. Gandler said the opportunity could lower customer acquisition costs by marketing directly to a sports-centric audience, pointing to Comscore data indicating ESPN’s digital and social properties reached four out of five U.S. adults in November 2025.
Gandler also noted continued focus on Spanish-speaking customers. He said fiscal Q1 2026 delivered record-high subscribers on Fubo’s Latino product, and that Hulu Live launched a Spanish-language bundle in January, providing two Spanish-language plan options across the ecosystem.
NBCUniversal dispute and subscriber impact
Gandler addressed investor questions about NBCUniversal, saying Fubo engaged in renewal discussions through November before pausing after confirmation of the Versant spinoff. He said Comcast later “ceased engagement” in renewal discussions despite multiple outreach attempts, indicating it was satisfied with its existing Hulu Live arrangement and would prefer to re-engage closer to Hulu Live’s expiration. Gandler said most commercial terms had been largely aligned prior to the spinoff, making Comcast’s position “very difficult to reconcile.”
Despite the removal of NBC content from the Fubo service, Gandler said the subscriber impact to date has been “modest” and better than the company’s expectations. He attributed that to the company’s sports-focused value proposition, actions taken to preserve consumer value—including lowering prices—and customers’ ability to supplement with Peacock.
In Q&A, Gandler said the company was up 3% year-over-year in subscribers versus the prior year despite being without NBC content for more than four weeks, and said the company also drove some traffic to Hulu Live TV, where NBC content remains available. He added that the company would evaluate the role of the NBCU and Versant portfolios as it reviews content alignment for its more than 6 million subscribers.
Gandler also pointed to performance of the Fubo Sports package, saying it is growing despite limited marketing and showing high trial conversion rates. He said retention for the package was about 30% above the legacy plan and positioned the promotional price point (which he cited as $44.99 or $45.99) as an attractive entry option for sports programming, including local NFL games and college football.
Financial results, liquidity, and corporate actions
Janedis said reported North America revenue was $1.54 billion, up from $1.11 billion in the prior-year period. On a pro forma basis, North America revenue was $1.68 billion versus $1.58 billion a year earlier, representing 6% growth. The company ended the quarter with approximately 6.2 million North America subscribers, compared to 6.3 million in the prior year, on a combined basis.
Reported net loss improved to $19.1 million from $38.6 million a year earlier. On a pro forma basis, net loss improved to $46.4 million from $130.4 million last year, while pro forma adjusted EBITDA rose to $41.4 million, nearly doubling from $22.0 million in the prior year period.
The company entered the quarter with $458.6 million in cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash. Janedis said operating cash flow was impacted by working capital timing, particularly a buildup in accounts receivable following the close of the transaction, which the company expects to normalize in subsequent quarters.
Earnings per share reflected a loss of $0.02, based on 351.9 million Class A shares outstanding and an additional 947.9 million Class B shares outstanding on a vote-only basis.
Janedis also announced a planned reverse stock split intended to make the stock more accessible to a broader base of investors and to reduce the number of outstanding shares to a level “better aligned with the company’s size and scope.” He said the company aims to execute the reverse split by the end of fiscal Q2 2026.
In Q&A, management said a Disney shelf filing that included registering Disney shares was a routine post-closing “housekeeping” item and did not change the 24-month lockup restriction on Disney. The company also said it is not providing guidance yet, citing timing variables around initiatives such as the ESPN agreement and the NBC programming situation, and noted it was “only 98 days” into the combination.
About fuboTV (NYSE:FUBO)
fuboTV Inc is a sports-focused live TV streaming platform that provides subscribers with access to a broad range of televised sports, news and entertainment programming. The service offers tiered channel packages featuring major networks such as ESPN, Fox Sports, NBC and regional sports networks, along with bundled options for premium channels and international programming. A core element of fuboTV’s proposition is its cloud DVR functionality, which enables users to record live events and store them for later viewing.
In addition to its live television offerings, fuboTV has developed an in-house ad-supported streaming network—fubo Sports Network—that delivers original sports news, analysis and highlights.
