FuboTV, the streaming service acquired by Facebank on April 1, disclosed that the combined companies registered a pro-forma net loss of $48.4 million in the first quarter.

In a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission Wednesday, fuboTV alone had a loss of $36 million in the quarter and Facebank lost $4.5 million. Adjustments to earnings totaled $8 million.

The combined company is doing business as fuboTV. On Wednesday morning, the company released a letter to shareholders with financial highlights, including  a 78% increase in revenue and a jump of 120% in streaming hours.

FuboTV stock trades over the counter and closed up 20% at $10.51 a share.

For 2019, the combined companies had a pro-forma loss of $335.9 million. FuboTV’s loss was $173.7 million and Facebank lost $114.7 million.  

In its last quarter before being acquired by FaceBank Group, virtual MVPD fuboTV's revenue rose 78%, to $51 million, compared to a year ago.

The transaction was completed on April 1.

The company, operating as fuboTV, said first-quarter subscription revenue was up 74% to $46.4 million and advertising revenue rose 120% to $4.1 million. Subscriber expenses were $78 million.

Full financial results, including net income, will be released later Wednesday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Total streaming hours increased 120% to 107.2 million hours and monthly active users watched 120 hours per month on average. Paid subscribers were up 37% to 287,316.

“We believe fuboTV is at the forefront of the streaming revolution and has a significant advantage not only over peers in the vMVPD space but also over traditional cable television,” said CEO David Gandler in a letter to shareholders. “We offer cord-cutters a total cable TV replacement with top Nielsen-ranked sports, news and entertainment channels. What sets fuboTV apart is our internally built tech stack that keeps us innovating ahead of the industry.”

Gandler noted that the absence of live sports should be taken into account when looking at the company’s performance. The company typically adds more subscribers in the third and fourth quarter, and plans to spend most of its marketing dollars then, he said.

Since the merger, the company had added $46 million in equity funding, including $20 million from Credit Suisse Capital through a common stock issuance at $9.25 a share. 

“Looking ahead, we are focused on driving both top-line growth while making progress on our path to profitability,” Gandler said. “Our financial model is driven by strong unit economics, and margin improvement should continue over time, aided by a number of initiatives, including the growth of advertising on our platform along with strong attach rates on value-added services including cloud DVR storage and the ability to view multiple streams.”

Virtual MVPD fuboTV has sold just over 2.16 million in stock shares to Credit Suisse Capital LLC in a deal valued at $20 million. 

In its deal announcement, FuboTV, which merged with publicly traded virtual bank FaceBank Group Inc. in March to form a company doing business under the brand name fuboTV, said it has now raised $46 million from institutional and private investors in calendars years 2020. (FuboTV had raised $151.3 million as a startup launched in 2014.)

The company said it “intends to continue to raise capital to support growth strategies and funder operation.” 

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FuboTV said it ended 2019 with just under 316,000 paying subscribers. And the company seems intent on competing in a fast-maturing vMPVD market.

Two weeks ago, fuboTV announced its first-ever carriage deal with the Walt Disney Company, providing a streaming service that markets itself as a sports specialty platform access to the ESPN family of networks for the first time. 

Last week, the vMVPD announced its latest price increase, with base-tier customers now paying $60 a month. 

Despite the shutdown in sports and a very tough advertising environment, fubo TV is expecting to follow up a blockbuster 2019 with a strong first quarter as consumers flock to streaming video.

In its first financial disclosure since merging with publicly held FaceBank Group, fubo TV said that its revenue increased 96% to $146.5 million in 2019, powered by growth in its paid subscriber base, ad sales and user engagement.

For the first quarter, the company expects total revenue to be up more than 75% compared to the prior year.

Subscription revenue was up 90% to 133.3 million in 2019 and the company sees that rising by 70% in the first quarter.

Ad revenues were up 201% to 12.4 million in 2019 and the company said it expects the first quarter to finish with a 120% increase.

Going forward, those numbers might be hard to sustain, especially without live sports.

“Sports programming lends itself to advertising, and we also insert ads into other content” said fubo TV co-founder David Gandler, the CEO of the combined company. “Although COVID-19 is significantly impacting advertising spend, we believe that advertisers will continue to shift budget allocations towards streaming and away from legacy TV as streaming provides higher ROI, better targeting and a more desirable, younger demographic than legacy TV.”

Fubo TV said its user base was up 37% last year to 315,789 paid subscribers. Those users streamed 298.7 million hours of content in 2019, up 210%. Average revenue per user increased 42% to $53.80 in 2019.

Fubo noted that instead of focusing on soccer and other sports, it has expanded to be a cable replacement product as a virtual MVPD, diversifying its value to subscribers.

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“Like everyone, we look forward to the return of live sports both in the U.S. and internationally,” the Gandler said. "We are already seeing the return of sports without spectators in some countries, and professional sports leagues as well as collegiate programs in the U.S. are beginning to outline their plans publicly. We believe that this trend will continue which will tap into pent-up demand for consumers to view their favorite teams and leagues through streaming platforms. As we saw with last week’s enormous viewership for the NFL draft and the NBA’s announcement to resume practices, consumers are hungry for sports content.”

Gandler said that in 2020, the company will be expanding into original content production and is focused on enhancing its content portfolio, innovating and personalizing its product offering and expanding internationally.

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“We believe that we are at the very early stages of our growth and that we are at an inflection point in the TV industry where streaming has begun to surpass linear in several key areas, including content variety, flexible access and cost savings to consumers,” Gandler said. "While the future is unknown as the world grapples with the ongoing impact of the pandemic, we are optimistic and believe that both as a business and a society we will emerge stronger than ever before.”

Virtual MVPD service FuboTV agreed to be acquired by tech company FaceBank Group.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions of streaming services. Pluto TV was acquired last year by Viacom. More recently Xumo agreed to be acquired by Comcast and Fox agreed to buy Tubi.

FaceBank said that after the merger, FuboTV will become a wholly owned subsidiary of FaceBank. The combined company will be called fuboTV Inc.

Fubu TV CEO David Gandler is expected to be the CEO of the combined company.

The companies said the combination creates a leading digital entertainment entity combining fubo’s live streaming with FaceBank’s technology driven intellectual property in sports, movies and live performances. The company plans to continue to expand globally, using FaceBank’s Nexway AG eCommerce platform to accept payments.

“The business combination of FaceBank Group and fuboTV accelerates our ability to build a category defining company and supports our goal to provide consumers with a technology-driven cable TV replacement service for the whole family,” said Gandler. “With our growing businesses in the U.S., and recent beta launches in Canada and Europe, fuboTV is well-positioned to achieve its goal of becoming a world-leading live TV streaming platform for premium sports, news and entertainment content. In the current COVID-19 environment, stay-at-home stocks make perfect sense - we plan to accelerate our timing to uplist to a major exchange as soon as practicable. We look forward to working with John and his team of creative visionaries."

Fubo started as a soccer streaming service and has expanded into other sports and entertainment channels.

Fubo had raised more than $150 million in funding. Investors included 21st Century Fox, AMC Networks, Luminari Capital, Northzone, Sky, Discovery, Waverly Capital, DCM Ventures, i2bf, LionTree Partners, Univision, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Chris Silbermann and the late NBA commissioner David Stern.

FaceBank develops digital likeness assets of celebrities and consumers for used in artificial intelligence, entertainment, personal productivity and social networking.

“As a tech-driven IP company, FaceBank was looking to find the perfect delivery platform for its celebrity and consumer driven content, with a dynamic user interface that could support the global consumers’ rapidly evolving practices of content consumption,” said FaceBank founders John Textor and Alex Bafer. “David and his team have a clear vision of the future and fuboTV’s technology is second to none among the disruptor class of content delivery – a perfect match for FaceBank Group.”

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Virtual MVPD service FuboTV agreed to be acquired by tech company FaceBank Group.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions of streaming services. Pluto TV was acquired last year by Viacom. More recently Xumo agreed to be acquired by Comcast and Fox agreed to buy Tubi.

FaceBank said that after the merger, FuboTV will become a wholly owned subsidiary of FaceBank. The combined company will be called fuboTV Inc.

Fubu TV CEO David Gandler is expected to be the CEO of the combined company.

The companies said the combination creates a leading digital entertainment entity combining fubo’s live streaming with FaceBank’s technology driven intellectual property in sports, movies and live performances. The company plans to continue to expand globally, using FaceBank’s Nexway AG eCommerce platform to accept payments.

“The business combination of FaceBank Group and fuboTV accelerates our ability to build a category defining company and supports our goal to provide consumers with a technology-driven cable TV replacement service for the whole family,” said Gandler. “With our growing businesses in the U.S., and recent beta launches in Canada and Europe, fuboTV is well-positioned to achieve its goal of becoming a world-leading live TV streaming platform for premium sports, news and entertainment content. In the current COVID-19 environment, stay-at-home stocks make perfect sense - we plan to accelerate our timing to uplist to a major exchange as soon as practicable. We look forward to working with John and his team of creative visionaries."

Fubo started as a soccer streaming service and has expanded into other sports and entertainment channels. 

Fubo had raised more than $150 million in funding. Investors included 21st Century Fox, AMC Networks, Luminari Capital, Northzone, Sky, Discovery, Waverly Capital, DCM Ventures, i2bf, LionTree Partners, Univision, Edgar Bronfman Jr., Chris Silbermann and the late NBA Commissioner David Stern.

FaceBank develops digital likeness assets of celebrities and consumers for used in artificial intelligence, entertainment, personal productivity and social networking.

“As a tech-driven IP company, FaceBank was looking to find the perfect delivery platform for its celebrity and consumer driven content, with a dynamic user interface that could support the global consumers’ rapidly evolving practices of content consumption,” said FaceBank founders John Textor and Alex Bafer. “David and his team have a clear vision of the future and fuboTV’s technology is second to none among the disruptor class of content delivery – a perfect match for FaceBank Group.”