Republicans get involved in Venu-Fubo spat
A change in Presidential administration toward Trump could help Venu
Is the Venu-Fubo fight becoming politicized? To the surprise of some, it is.
As first reported by Awful Announcing on September 28, six Republican Attorney Generals and five Republican Congressmen are filing separate friend-of-the-court briefs with Venu in their fight with Fubo over the right to exist.
The Attorneys General of Alabama, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, and South Carolina all filed those briefs the night before with Venu, as they are appealing a New York federal district judge’s ruling to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, granting a restraining order prohibiting the joint venture between Fox Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, and Warner Bros. Discovery from launching.
On September 28, counsel representing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Oh.), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Rep. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Wis.), Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Ca.), and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Ca.) filed their briefs supporting Venu. All five are allies of the former President Donald Trump, who is running against Democrat Kamala Harris. This comes after progressive independent senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Massachusetts Democrat senator Elizabeth Warren urged the Justice Department to investigate Venu due to antitrust concerns.
The reason why Republicans are getting involved is they feel the antitrust laws are being inaccurately applied in this situation, noting they are meant to protect consumers – not corporations like Fubo, an independent-owned virtual provider and smaller than competitors YouTubeTV, DirecTV Stream, and Dish/Sling. The Republicans’ AG stated in the brief that Venu’s $43 a month is cheaper than Fubo’s $80 base price but failed to note Venu does not come with news and entertainment channels and would not include sports content from Paramount Global (CBS), Comcast (Peacock/NBC), or Nexstar (The CW).
It’s no coincidence that the six states filing briefs with the Second Circuit Court are places where college football is huge. Five of those states are home to highly influential Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools, which draw huge TV ratings in the South. The pairing also makes some strange bedfellows for one company, given Disney has fought with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over LGBTQ issues, and was stripped of their governing powers in the area around Walt Disney World near Orlando when the state dissolved the Reedy Creek Protection District.
Venu was formed last February by Disney, Fox, and WBD to distribute sports channels virtually culled from each company, including ESPN, FS1, TNT, TBS, and local ABC and Fox stations. The joint venture was criticized on social media with many referring to it as “cable TV lite”. Fubo was the first virtual competitor to object to the joint venture and filed a lawsuit to prevent its launch, stating it would harm them and other virtual providers such as YouTubeTV and stifle competition.
The politicization of industry issues isn’t new. In 2017, Illinois AG Lisa Madigan opposed the sale of Tribune Media to conservative broadcaster Sinclair, which was derailed after the FCC sent the deal to an administrative law judge, angering Republicans. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, politicians from both sides constantly weighed in on the financial interest and syndication rules, which the Big 3 networks were asking for relief from. And of course, the battle over the FCC’s station ownership rules is never-ending.
If there are no further developments in the case, a trial is scheduled for next October. With the GOP taking the side of Venu, the joint venture could benefit should Trump win the White House and the Republicans take the Senate in this year’s elections as a more business-friendly and deregulation-minded regime is likely to be sympathetic to their concerns.