Lawyers for DirecTV and EchoStar’s Dish have asked a U.S. district judge to “reconsider a dismissal of claims by Fubo TV against the Venu Sports streamer after a surprise merger with Hulu + Live TV," according to Etan Vlessing of the HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett of the Southern District in N.Y. in August granted Fubo TV a motion for a preliminary injunction to block the launch of the joint venture by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery. But the sports-focused streamer “secured a path to potentially launching after Fubo agreed to drop its lawsuit against Venu as it merged with Disney’s streaming multichannel video service Hulu + Live TV." To potentially block that launch on completion of the proposed merger transaction, DirecTV and Dish on Jan. 7 wrote Garnett to “raise a red flag over the dismissal of Fubo’s claims against Venu and lifting the preliminary injunction on anti-competitive grounds.” DirecTV and EchoStar “urged the court to uphold the initial anti-competitive grounds behind granting Fubo the original preliminary injunction against Venu." At the “heart of Fubo’s original lawsuit” against Venu were allegations that Disney, Fox and WBD "leverage their control of must-have sports to force rivals into carrying dozens of pricey, unpopular channels as a take-it-or-leave-it condition of licensing critical sports channels” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 1/9).
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