• by Wayne Friedman , November 10, 2020

Sports-focused, advertising-supported virtual pay TV service fuboTV posted better overall revenue, higher subscribers, and improved advertising sales in the third quarter -- as well as a major net loss.

The bulk of the net loss of $274.1 million for the third quarter came from non-cash goodwill and intangibles impairment charges of the previous FaceBank business.

Facebook acquired fuboTV in March.

Without this charge, the company posted an adjusted net loss of $72.7 million. The company was able to narrow its negative cash flow -- earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization -- by $2.9 million to $47.5 million.

Revenues for third-quarter 2020 were up 47% to $61.2 million. These were comprised of subscription revenue -- 64% higher to $53.4 million -- and advertising revenue -- 153% more to $7.5 million.

Paid subscribers grew 58% to 455,555 year-over-year, with its average revenue per user (ARPU) per month growing 14% to $67.70.

Total content hours streamed by fuboTV users -- paid and free trial -- grew 83% in the third quarter to 133.3 million hours.

With its growing efforts around sports content, fuboTV intends to enter the sports betting industry. Edgar Bronfman Jr., executive chairman, fuboTV, stated in a release:

"We believe fuboTV sits firmly at the intersection of three megatrends: the secular decline of traditional TV viewership, the shift of TV ad dollars to connected TVs and online sports wagering, a market which we intend to enter."