Tuesday, 14 January 2025

Hollywood Reporter: With Venu Sports Dead, DirecTV Bets That MySports Can Live

Story from Hollywood Reporter:

Now that Venu Sports is dead, DirecTV thinks that it can fill the void.

The satellite TV service is launching a new, streaming multichannel video service called MySports, which will feature the same channels as Venu plus a bunch more.

The catch? MySports costs $70 per month, substantially more than the $43 per month Venu was targeting to launch at.

MySports will include ABC, NBC and Fox, as well as cable channels like ESPN, TNT, TBS, USA Network and Fox Sports 1. It will also include channels like NFL Network, NBA TV, and MLB Network. All told, more than 40 channels will be included.

According to a spokesperson from Warner Bros. Discovery, the launch f MySports comes after the media company inked a new carriage deal with DirecTV. That is notable because it means that Warner Bros. Discovery has now inked deals with three largest pay-TV providers in the U.S., Comcast, Charter, and DirecTV, greatly reducing concerns about the future of it cable channels after it was unable to renew its rights deal with the NBA.

“Warner Bros. Discovery is pleased to partner with DirecTV on its newly announced genre package as part of a new, multi-year agreement for Warner Bros. Discovery’s full portfolio of networks. We look forward to sharing additional information in the coming weeks,” the spokesperson said. “With this deal complete, Warner Bros. Discovery has successfully closed agreements with the top 3 distributors in the United States.”

Notably, the new package will not include CBS, or any other channels owned by Paramount Global.

“The introduction of MySports from DIRECTV delivers consumers greater choice, flexibility, and control to select the type of content they want to watch at the right value,” said Bill Morrow, CEO of DirecTV, in a statement. “This is the first of several genre-based options we plan to launch over the coming months on our path towards a brighter TV future for consumers.”

The new offering comes just a few months after DirecTV inked a wide-ranging carriage deal with The Walt Disney Co., one that paved the way for genre-based offerings like MySports. Any sports-centric TV offering needs to have ESPN, which is also planning to launch its own direct-to-consumer service later this year.

MySports will initially launch in 24 markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, and the San Francisco Bay Area, with others to follow.

DirecTV says it will launch other genre-specific offerings in the coming months.

© 2025 The Hollywood Reporter.