FuboTV Sees Growth in Its First Quarter of 2020, but Subscribers Drop

FuboTV had a 78% increase in revenue in the first quarter of its 2020 fiscal year as well as a significant monthly subscriber uptick since last year. However, the sports-focused platform did report a decline of total users since the end of 2019.

The multi-channel video programming distributor disclosed its delayed first-quarter financials on July 8 following its completed merger with FaceBank Group, Inc. in April 2020. The company previously reported its 2019 fiscal year performance in May.

FuboTV earned $51 million in revenue for the three months ending March 31. Monthly subscribers also grew by 37% to more than 287,000. However, total users are down 9% compared to the end of December when the streaming platform reported just under 316,000 users.

FuboTV has had an eventful 2020 mixing up its channel lineup. The company dropped several Fox regional sports networks along with FX and FXX in January. It later added both MLB and NHL Network in March before finally inking a multi-year deal with Disney Networks for ESPN, among other properties.

Even without live sports at the end of the quarter, FuboTV users watched an average of 120 hours of television per month, according to the company – up 52% year-over-year. That number has increased to 8.5 hours per day, or 145 hours per month, during the coronavirus pandemic for some customers.

“While we expect that the COVID-19 pandemic will have lasting effects on consumer behavior and live television viewing, vMVPDs [virtual multichannel video programming distributors] are also a more affordable alternative to pay TV, which, we believe, in this current economic climate, further accelerates adoption,” CEO David Gandler said in a July 8 letter to shareholders.

To balance the costs of newly added content, FuboTV dropped Turner Networks and announced a $5 price increase to its $54.99 base package on July 1. Fellow OTT cable provider YouTube TV also hiked up its monthly subscription price to $65 from $50 and is looking into building out new flexible models.

READ MORE: FuboTV Subscribers Show Appetite for Content Other Than Live Sports

Subscriptions continue to be the primary source of revenue for FuboTV. Subscription revenue grew 74% to $46.4 million in the first quarter. Advertising revenue also more than doubled by 120% year-over-year. However, total ad revenue amounted to only $4.1 million.

“Looking ahead, we continue to focus on growing our advertising revenue stream as we attract national advertisers across a number of verticals,” Gandler said. “We expect to drive revenue growth, continue to diversify our revenue mix [and] make progress on our path to profitability.”