FuboTV CEO David Gandler said he bought 46,000 shares of the company’s stock for about $137,000, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing and a series of tweets Monday.

Also on Twitter, analyst Rich Greenfield of LightShed Partners pointed out that Gandler had sold 50,000 shares of fubo stock for $1.5 million in November. 

When Gandler sold, he received $34.46 a share. When he bought, he paid $2.98 a share.

In his tweet, Gandler said “I could not be more confident in fubo’s ability to meet its goals. As a testament to my confidence, I bought 46,000 shares of $FUBO today.”

Gandler added that other members of the fubo executive team also bought shares on the open market, including CFO John Janedis. Janedis bought 7,000 shares at $2.94 a share for a total investment of $20,580.

Last week fubo released its first quarter results, saying that it lost $140.8 million on record revenues of $243 million. It said it lost 75,000 subscribers.

In December 2020, Greenfield urged investors to sell “money losing” fuboTV. Greenfield noted that it would be difficult to make money in the virtual MVPD business, especially with little leverage against content owners.

At the time, the stock traded at $44.

“There is no special sauce [for] Fubo, which can turn the fundamentally flawed MVPD/vMVPD business into a good one, especially if it lacks scale and other products to bundle,” Greenfield said.

Also: NewFronts: FuboTV Offers Custom Audience Segments to Advertisers

FuboTV has been looking to move into the lucrative sports betting market.

In January, Greenfield upgraded fuboTV from sell to neutral.

"Fubo’s financial challenges could worsen in 2022 if their recent sports rights licensing deals do not drive enough incremental subs. Lastly, we believe it is highly unlikely that Fubo has access to capital going forward," Greenfield wrote.

"All that said, with Fubo stock down nearly 85% in 13 months and the company sitting on $375 million of cash, we are going to wait and see whether management abandons their sports betting 'fantasy' to reduce the cash burn in 2022 and beyond. While the company could also put itself up for sale, we believe the most likely buyers would look to poach Fubo’s subscribers post-bankruptcy, rather than buy the whole company at the current $1.4 billion valuation," Greenfield wrote.

Fubo shares closed at $2.91 on Monday, down 10.46%. ■

According to the narrative of fuboTV's many Wall Street bears, the virtual MVPD company is caught in a never-ending trap of escalating content licensing costs, juxtaposed against increasingly price-sensitive customers who are looking for cheaper alternatives to bundled program pay TV experiences. 

With fuboTV stock hitting another all-time low of $6.14 a share Monday, company CEO David Gandler was asked what investors are "missing" about the vMVPD outfit. 

"In my opinion they’re missing a lot, probably everything," Gandler responded, beginning a multi-live-event messaging assault Tuesday at the Deutsche Bank 30th Annual Media, Internet & Telecom Conference. 

Also read: Rich Greenfield Urges Investors to Sell 'Money-Losing' FuboTV

Gandler said that since 96% of fuboTV's 1.1 million subscribers watch sports, the vMVPD operates under different rules than other pay TV services. 

"That to me is probably the most important factor because that means we can amortize the cost of sports across our whole base," he said. "The problem with traditional cable is that most people don't care about regional sports. They don't care about ESPN and so every time the price goes up, they say, 'Well, why am I doing this, all I care about is news or TV series or movies,' so, very different for us."

Gandler said that around 40% of consumption on fuboTV is sports content. Since the $64.99-a-month fuboTV service does bundle broad-skewing entertainment-focused channels like Bravo, it's a "family" platform. 

However, he added, "The sports fan is important because they're the person in their household that's driving the decision making process as to what to get."

Gandler said fuboTV gets "zero credit" from equity analysts for its developing sports book business, an opportunity that he noted could be worth "hundreds of millions" of dollars. 

"The opportunity is massive," Gandler said. "We have 10 market access licenses, and I think investors may worry, 'But you're late to the game.' ... I remember, we had about 80,000 to 100,000 customers when Sling TV had 2 million, and Hulu had 2 million to 3 million ... and the question was, 'OK guys, what are you going to do now if you have hundred thousand, everyone's in the millions?' Fast-forward three years, we're at 1.1 million. So I think that we're not late to the game and nobody has unlocked casual gaming. ... As long as we're continuing to grow our sub base, then we'll be able to take advantage of the gaming opportunity." 

Touching on a broad range of fuboTV's business during his talk with Deutsche Bank's Bryan Craft, Gandler insisted that the company's recent purchase of Molotov, France's top live-stream platform, is not a sign that fuboTV is interested right now in international expansion. 

"We acquired Molotov for several reasons. In short, I would say, its team, technology and operating model ... It's very difficult to hire engineers today. And Fubo for a company that is guiding towards roughly $1 billion of revenue this year, we have only 530 employees. So if you look at comps of Roku, Netflix, Spotify, DraftKings, those companies approaching $1 billion had between 153,000 employees. So this for us was an opportunity to pick up a team that was already built, working on a very similar product, a live TV streaming platform. They've focused on areas of technology that we just haven't gotten to yet, specifically around metadata few other areas."

Gandler also addressed fuboTV's recently ended "test" of a quarterly pricing model, which was made in the run-up to last month's Super Bowl. 

"We thought why not try something we've never thought of, which is a multi-month subscription contract, if you will, on a game like the Super Bowl, where you should expect a high level of churn," Gandler said. ■ 

Despite a falloff in overall subscribers in Q1, virtual MVPD services will bounce back and likely become the gateway for TV services for most consumers, fuboTV founder and CEO David Gandler said at an industry conference Thursday, adding that he sees the day when  customers, tired of continued price increases at the growing number of SVOD services, will turn to aggregators like his company for their entertainment and sports content.

Virtual MVPDs lost about 240,000 subscribers in Q1, according to MoffettNathanson, compared to a loss of about 374,000 customers in the prior year, as gains at fuboTV (about 43,000) and YouTube TV weren’t enough to offset losses at other providers. Still, while some pundits said the losses were a sign that the vMVPD space was headed for more declines, MoffettNathanson said the falloff was an indication of the growing seasonality of the business. 

Gandler, speaking at S&P Global Market Intelligence's virtual Kagan Media Summit on Thursday, agreed, adding that consumers that cut the traditional pay TV cord usually take a few months before signing up with a new service.

“Q1 saw several services that didn’t grow, but we saw that in the last Q1,” Gandler said. “What happens is someone cancels cable or satellite in Q1 and they wait until Q3 to sign up, either because they’re  getting a new apartment, or it’s the NFL season. That has been, even for traditional cable, a historical time for signups.”

Gandler said that most consumers want more content, not less, and that in the end, they will likely turn to aggregators like FuboTV for entertainment, news and sports programming.

“I do believe vMVPDs will become the gateways of television when the street starts to push back on the cost associated with these SVOD services,” Gandler said, later estimating that there could be as many as 50 million subscribers in the vMVPD ecosystem in eight-to-10 years, “and SVOD services will look for ways to be part of those bundles.” 

Gandler believes that despite some pretty hefty increases in the monthly charges for some MVPDs over the years, including his own. In the end, the success of any content service hinges on the value it delivers to the customer.  

“We were a $6.99 service per month back in 2015, increased prices 10 times and still managed to improve all of our KPIs,” Gandler said. “I believe that’s because we are able to provide that value proposition.”

He added that in Q1, the average fuboTV viewer watched 129 hours of content per month, more than twice the 50 hours the average Netflix customer watched that service. 

And though fuboTV is sports focused, it offers general entertainment and new channels in its offerings too. That, he said, is key in attracting and retaining subscribers. 

“We say, ‘Come for the sports, stay for the entertainment. Sports drives acquisitions, it does not drive retention,” Gandler said, adding that Q1 was fubo’s eighth straight quarter of churn reduction.

And that is happening even as vMVPDs have raised prices. 

“The average customer, despite the fact that our product is now $65, is spending about 50 cents per hour,” Gandler said. “It packs a lot of punch for 50 cents per hour. Which [leads] me to believe that the proliferation of SVOD is only going to drive more customers to the virtual MVPD.”

Gandler said that most cord cutters are already paying around $60 per month for the SVOD services they subscribe to, like Netflix ($13.99), Amazon Prime Video ($12.99), Disney Plus ($7.99), HBO Max ($14.99), Hulu ($5.99 w/ads; $11.99 w/o ads) and Paramount Plus ($4.99 w/ads, $9.99 w/o ads).

“We know that media companies will eventually have to raise prices,” Gandler said. “Why? Because sports rights continue  to cost more -- we saw that with the NFL deal that was up 100% -- we’ve seen that with more competition with respect to entertainment content with Apple and Amazon and others getting in to acquire series. Everyone is generally going to be paying more. Prices for those SVOD services right now are low because they want to get as many people in the door as possible, but ultimately prices will go up.”    

Netflix has averaged a price increase about every two years, and in October upped the price of its standard package by $1 per month to $13.99.  Disney Plus increased its monthly charges from $6.99 to $7.99 in March, and others are sure to follow. As the rising cost of content continues to put pressure on streaming services, Gandler said that something will eventually have to give. 

“I believe that consumers are going to start reaching SVOD fatigue at some point,” Gandler said. “$65, $70 or $80 is not really a lot of money, given that people are watching seven days a week.”

FuboTV CEO David Gandler and executive chairman Edgar Bronfman Jr. each received stock options valued at more than $20 million as part of their 2020 compensation, according to a proxy statement released by the sports-focused virtual multichannel video programming distributor on Wednesday.

Gandler had a salary of $470,000, a bonus of $265,068 and option awards of $20.9 million as part of his total compensation of $21.694,522.

Also Read: fuboTV Makes Deal to Carry Marquee Sports Net in Chicago

Bronfman, who joined the company on April 29, received retainer fees of $84,098 and option awards of $20.9 million for his total compensation of $29.942,144.

fuboTV reported a $570 million loss on revenues of $217.7 million for 2020.

Over the last 12 months, its stock rode a roller coaster rising from a low of $7.51 to a high of $62 a share on Dec. 22, then falling again to $18.66 on April 16. fuboTV shares closed Wednesday at $21.78.

In the proxy statement, fuboTV said it 2020 equate incentive plan provides employees including its named executive officers with  “the opportunity to participate in the equity appreciation of our business and incentivize them to work towards the long-term performance goals of the company.”

Asked Monday how he responds to bearish investment analysts who dismiss his company as just another low-margin virtual MVPD operator, fuboTV co-founder and CEO David Gandler said, “I think, generally speaking, investors misunderstand evolving companies.”

Speaking during the virtual Deutsche Bank Media, Internet & Telecom Conference, Gandler reasoned that there are currently 75 million remaining subscribers in the pay TV ecosystem “who will eventually look for a better experience or better pricing, or both. I don’t see how the decline in traditional pay TV has an impact on us.”

Of the roughly 1.35 million pay TV customers who cut the cord in the fourth quarter, Gandler reckons that fuboTV took 6% of them, with the service adding 90,000 customers during the period. 

“Even if we don’t improve from here,” he said, “I’m still very bullish.”

FuboTV has been the streaming industry’s most volatile stock of late, peaking at $62 a share in December, before precipitously declining—it was, at one point, down another 10% today to under $27 a share.

“The company has told a story which has been embraced by an army of retail investors,” said LightShed Partners’ Rich Greenfield, pouring cold water on the stock in December. “However, Fubo is not Netflix, Fubo is not Flutter/FanDuel, DraftKings nor even Penn/Barstool Sports, Fubo is not Roku and Fubo is not Trade Desk. Fubo is simply just another virtual multichannel video programming distributor (vMVPD) facing the same obstacles and financial challenges as every other vMVPD.”

The company, which just reported a 98% spike in Q4 revenue to $105.1 million but also a $167.8 million quarterly loss, is rapidly trying to diversify its revenue streams into advertising and sports wagering. It just acquired two online betting companies and plans to open a sports book in the fourth quarter. 

“Say you’re watching a Lakers game on fuboTV,” Gandler explained, outlining his service’s future functionality. “When you turn on your phone, it immediately has a betting slip on the game.”

With operators in the suddenly struggling market for over-the-top pay TV services beginning to openly lament their lack of profitability, and one major player expressing intent to tweak its pricing and packaging, fuboTV co-founder and CEO David Gandler told MCN this week that he wouldn’t be surprised if at least one significant vMVPD service shut down in 2019.

“It’s a tough market,” said Gandler, who was careful to note that fuboTV’s just announced expansion into Spain reveals that his startup may not be feeling the same pain as its corporate behemoth competitors.

“If you can’t figure out how to make money on this, why would you do it?” Gandler added. “I think you’re going to see people saying, ‘Either I missed something, or we’re not executing.' I would anticipate that there will be companies that will have to rethink their strategy.”

Related: AT&T’s New DirecTV Now Plan: ‘Thin Out’ Bundle, Reset Price Point to ‘$50-$60’

That already happened this week. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson told investors that the company plans to “thin out” the bundle for vMPVD DirecTV Now and adjust its monthly price up to $50 to $60.

“We were asking this DirecTV Now product to do too much work,” Stephenson said. "So we’re thinning out the content and getting the price point right; getting it to where it’s profitable.”

Meanwhile, during Dish Network’s third quarter earnings call last month, company Chairman Charlie Ergen expressed frustration at the low-margin business model of Sling TV.

Asked if Sling TV is profitable, Ergen remarked, “It depends on how you look at it. But under Charlie Ergen's definition of profitability, I think I'd like to make a little bit more money than we're making today.”

FuboTV is competing as a well backed start-up against a range of large corporately backed competition, which also includes Google’s YouTube TV and Sony PlayStation Vue.

With a recent $75 million funding infusion, fuboTV is in expansion mode, becoming the first vMPVD to enter an international market at a time when its competitors are rethinking strategy.

“Until now, the virtual MVPDs are alike in that they have no experience in international markets,” Gandler said. “It is not easy to launch a virtual MVPD, and it is much harder without the ability to leverage millions of existing subscribers, retail stores, customer call centers and other factors that have helped them have early success in the U.S. Our advantage is that we have never had that leverage, yet we have been able to build a successful business around our own tech stack, the ability to be nimble and, frankly, out-punch our weight class. As a digital native company that was created for this OTT space, we are tapping into the playbook that has worked in the U.S. to have success overseas.”

After announcing a $75 million cash infusion in April, fuboTV is expanding its executive team.

On Monday, the start-up virtual pay TV service announced the hiring of former Warner Bros. Digital executive David Yoon as senior VP of product design. The company simultaneously announced that former Tidal executive Erik Gerson has been named senior VP of engagement.

Related: fuboTV Preps 4K Beta

Yoon will report to David Gandler, fuboTV’s co-founder and CEO. Gerson will report to Alberto Horihuela, co-founder and CMO.

“fuboTV is committed to raising the bar in user engagement and experience across our live TV streaming platform, and today’s appointments underscore this investment in our subscribers,” said Gandler, in a statement. “With the additions of Erik and David to our world-class executive team, we are in an even stronger position to build for the future.”

The moves come as fuboTV is trying to refocus public perception of well-backed fuboTV as an underdog in a market that also includes AT&T’s DirecTV Now, Dish Network’s Sling TV, Hulu With Live TV and YouTube TV.

“Look, I can’t tell you how many people since 2015 have told us we’re dead because there’s some company that’s going to kill us,” Gandler said in an interview published by Fast Company last week. “And we’ve been able to withstand some serious competition.”

FuboTV has noted, for example, that it’s the first vMVPD to launch a 4K beta. It also touts itself as the first to fully implement SCTE 224 blackout technology standards.

“Because they’re a startup, and they’re a small team, that agility shouldn’t be underestimated,” added Emma Lloyd, the group director of partnerships and startups for fuboTV investor Sky, speaking to Fast Company. “It’s amazing to see, as an investor in Fubo, what they’ve managed to achieve in a very short space of time–certainly compared to other bigger players in the market–with very little investment.”

Sports streaming service FuboTV has named Geir Magnusson Jr. chief technology officer.

Magnusson, previously co-founder and CTO of Sourcepoint Technologies, will be based in New York and report to David Gandler, co-founder and CEO of FuboTV.

He succeeds Jason Solinsky.

FuboTV last week announced that it has launched 4K HDR ahead of other rival streaming services. Also, after several months of testing, fuboTV launched dynamic ad insertion in January.

Related: FuboTV Preps 4K Beta

The company plans to double its engineering team under Magnusson over the next few months to accelerate tech development and operations. 

The vMVPD said it expects Geir to play a significant role in rolling out future, patent-pending technologies.

Related: FuboTV Adds Discovery Features Ahead of World Cup

“We are delighted to welcome aboard Geir," Gandler said. "He has a strong track record of scaling complex global platforms and a proven ability to guide transformation at leading tech companies.

“Although only three years old, fuboTV is an industry leader in delivering new and innovative live video technology and features to the virtual Pay TV space,” Gandler added. "We believe Geir’s expertise and passion for innovation will ensure we maintain our leadership position as we deliver to consumers a next-generation live OTT experience."

Before Sourcepoint, Magnusson was CTO at AppNexus, Gilt Groupe, 10gen, Joost Technologies, Intel and Bloomberg.