Marketing itself in a highly competitive livestreaming market as the vMVPD that emphasizes sports versus much larger conglomerate-owned platforms, startup-backed fuboTV has faced an uphill battle without the biggest sports channel of them all, ESPN.
Quietly, however, the OTT platform has built a substantial general entertainment channel lineup. The latest addition is AMC Networks, which has agreed to provide the flagship AMC channel to fuboTV’s base “Premier” package, as well as BBC America, Sundance, IFC and WE tv. Also being added to the fuboTV grid are SVOD services Sundance Now and Shudder.
Notably, fuboTV customers also can subscribe to the ad-free AMC Premiere channel.
For fuboTV subscribers, the addition of AMC gives them access to aging AMC Network stalwart “The Walking Dead,” as well as Emmy darling “Better Call Saul.”
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The fuboTV lineup includes locals for all four major broadcast networks in most markets, as well as USA Network, SYFY, Bravo, FX, A&E, History and HGTV. Conspicuously absent are Turner Networks channels, however.
On the sports side, fuboTV lacks ESPN, but does give subscribers multiscreen access to key regional sports networks.
fuboTV is being marketed with the usual seven-day trial, with the first month for the Premier bundle going for $19.99. It shoots up to a not-as-competitive $44.99 after that first month. The Big Five vMVPDs—Dish Network’s Sling TV, AT&T’s DirecTV Now, Sony's PlayStation Vue, Hulu Live and Alphabet's YouTube TV—all price their base packages at or below $40 a month.
In October, fuboTV announced that it had surpassed 100,000 subscribers.
“fuboTV is fast-becoming a popular streaming option for viewers who want access to the best live sports and entertainment content available on any device and we are pleased to bring our popular, distinct and culturally relevant networks and streaming services to their line-up,” said Bob Broussard, president of distribution for AMC Networks, in a statement. “AMC Networks’ brands and content are highly sought after by consumers, who increasingly enjoy our shows, across multiple platforms.”