TelevisaUnivision pulled its channels from Fubo as new contract term negotiations continued to stall, the TV service revealed Monday.
The streaming pay-TV service explained in a statement obtained by TheWrap that the new contract proposed by TelevisaUnivision would result in a price hike. Fubo also said the media company was “refusing to offer what we believe to be fair and competitive rates.”
“Fubo has made considerable efforts and offered compromises to renew our long-standing content agreement for TelevisaUnivision and its affiliated channels,” the statement read. “However, TelevisaUnivision presented us with a new contract with restructured terms that would increase prices by 25% for our subscribers. Furthermore, TelevisaUnivision’s unfair bundling and tying practices require Fubo subscribers to buy all of their channels, including the channels they don’t watch.”
It continued: “TelevisaUnivision, the biggest provider of Spanish language content in the U.S., is attempting to use its dominant market power to force Fubo to pay higher prices, resulting in our Spanish-speaking subscribers paying significantly more to receive vital local news and weather, as well as sports and popular entertainment programming, in Spanish. TelevisaUnivision further abuses our Hispanic customers who love sports: to get all of the sports content that TelevisaUnivision offers, Fubo subscribers still have to pay separately for Vix+.”
Fubo concluded that they remained open to ongoing negotiations with TelevisaUnivision going forward “but it must be fair and equitable for our subscribers. That includes accessing Spanish-language content in our Latino plan at a cost that is competitive.”
The move to pull channels from Fubo came only a few weeks after TelevisaUnivision announced a number of layoffs to restructure their executive team under CEO Daniel Alegre. A memo sent to the staff with the news explained the move was “aimed at strengthening our position for 2025 and beyond.”
“Our partners’ needs are evolving, and we must serve them in ways no one else can in the market,” Alegre wrote.
