What happens next

In a constantly changing TV landscape, analysts told ADWEEK there’s more going on than just the legal issues being put to rest.

“Running a virtual cable service has proven unprofitable, even for the most successful products,” Benes said. “The culling of vMVPDs began with Playstation Vue and will continue.”

Benes noted that Hulu’s Live TV offering began under different ownership. (Disney reached an $8.6 billion deal with Comcast in 2023 to fully acquire Hulu.) Now, this new deal allows Disney to further offload being a pay-TV operator.

“Disney may be the majority shareholder of this new entity, but having it publicly traded as ‘Fubo’ and run by Fubo management gives the impression that they will explore offloading their pay-TV operator asset eventually,” Benes said.

Whether or not Disney eventually offloads Fubo, 2025 is only a few days in, so more consolidation and mergers are certainly on the way, according to experts.

“The consolidation of cable networks and the rise of new consumer bundles will take center stage in 2025,” Matt Sweeney, chief investment officer, GroupM US, recently told ADWEEK when reflecting on the topics that will dominate the TV industry this year. “Expect streamlined packages that combine must-watch content—sports, reality TV, scripted shows, and premium on-demand options.”

And as more deals get brokered with TV increasingly moving online, consumer confusion will follow, according to Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester.

“The rise of virtual MVPDs as an alternative (and eventual replacement) to cable and satellite TV seems at odds with core streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video aggressively brokering live programming deals,” Proulx said. “All of this means higher aggregate costs for consumers as they piecemeal together their television lineups in what seems like a never-ending game of whack-a-mole.”