FuboTV today announced that it now has more than 1 million subscribers. Officially, for the third quarter of 2021, it added 262,884 subscribers for a total of 944,605 as of September 30. In the month-plus since the quarter closed, it eclipsed the 1 million mark, adding at least 53,395 more subscribers. The third-quarter closing figure represents a 108% increase year over year, and a 228% increase since the same quarter in 2019.
As impressive as that growth is, FuboTV still is the smallest of the live streaming services that give quarterly numbers. Hulu With Live TV (which will update its numbers on November 10) still leads with 3.7 million subscribers at last count. YouTube TV hasn’t updated since October 2020, when it said it had “more than 3 million” subscribers. And Sling TV recently announced a slight increase to 2.556 million subscribers as of September 30.
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FuboTV is looking good on the money side of the equation, too, with revenue up 156% year-over-year to $156.7 million for the quarter. Viewership also was at a record-high 284 million hours of content streamed for the quarter, up 113%.
“FuboTV’s record third-quarter 2021 results again showcase consistent strong execution in support of our company mission and continued traction toward our long-term growth and margin targets,” David Gandler, co-founder and CEO of FuboTV, said in a press release.
FuboTV plans start at $65 a month — same as YouTube TV and Hulu With Live TV — and get you 109 linear channels, 250 hours of cloud-based DVR, and the ability to stream on three devices at once. Plans go up from there, including a “Pro” option for $5 more a month that increases recording capability and the number of simultaneous streams and the “Elite” plan, which gets you 154 channels on top of the additional recording space and maximum number of streams.
And all that’s before you get into the FuboTV add-ons — extras that get you even more channels and packages. This is where FuboTV has made a name for itself, with a number of sports packages that include international options that otherwise are hard to find. It also has a number of other add-ons that build on the base packages, plus premium movie channels like Showtime, Epix, and Starz.
FuboTV is available on every major streaming platform, including Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV, various smart TVs and gaming consoles, and in a web browser.
FuboTV increases its subscriber estimates to 1.1 million for 2021
FuboTV today announced preliminary fourth-quarter 2021 results, with the total number of subscribers at the end of the year expected to exceed 1.1 million. That's up more than 100% year over year -- which considering to the seasonal nature of streaming in general and FuboTV specifically due to its strong lean toward live sports -- is the measurement the company prefers over pure quarterly numbers.
The major increase for FuboTV in 2021 is in the first half of the year. The streaming service, which has prices and channels comparable to the much larger players in the space, ended the first quarter with about 590,000 subscribers. It reported 681,721 subscribers through June and then eclipsed the 1 million mark in November.
Hulu With Live TV gets back to the 4 million-subscriber mark
Hulu With Live TV just increased its lead in the battle to be the biggest live TV streaming service in the United States. The Disney-owned service had 4 million paid subscribers as of October 2, 2021, according to Disney's earnings report on the company's fourth quarter of the fiscal year.
That's up about 300,000 subscribers from the previous quarter, but still down about 100,000 subs from the same point in 2020.
FuboTV gets into the betting game with its first sportsbook
The era of betting on sports in the United States is upon us, and streaming service FuboTV is getting in on the action with the launch of its first sportsbook. The aptly named Fubo Sportsbook is available now in Iowa for those at least 21 years old, which is the usual age for this sort of gambling in the U.S.
Fubo Sportsbook is a combination of wagering and sports information and intertainment with "an industry-first integration of an owned-and-operated sports wagering platform with a live TV streaming experience." The "Watching Now" feature of the app uses FuboTV's first-party data (that is, what it's learned about you over time) "to allow users to instantly view wagering content based upon what they are streaming -- even as they change the channel."
