• by Wayne Friedman , Yesterday

Sports-focused FuboTV says it will be the first connected TV (CTV) platform to offer pause ads for programmatic guaranteed and biddable private advertising marketplaces.

Helping Fubo out in providing this pause ad-technology is Magnite, the self-service media-buying platform.

FuboTV, a virtual pay TV distributor of TV networks, originally launched pause ads last year as part of a group of interactive CTV ad units.

Pause ads typically are in a display format and appear after a viewer presses "pause" while viewing content, then disappear when the user presses "play."

Fubo says its pause ads can also offer QR codes.

Fubo says CTV pause ads result in 33% more brand engagement and now available via programmatic/biddable platforms will expand to a broader range of advertisers.

In the first quarter of 2025, FuboTV's advertising revenue was $22.8 million -- a decrease from $27.4 million in the same period of 2024.

Earlier this year, Disney announced it would acquire a majority stake in FuboTV and merge its Hulu + Live TV business. Disney will make a $220 million cash investment in Fubo and will own 70% of the new entity.

Fubo had 1.47 million subscribers in the first quarter of this year. Hulu + Live TV had approximately 4.4 million subscribers, second to YouTube TV (8.0 million) in the first three months of 2025.

As part of the deal, it also includes Fubo dropping its lawsuit against Disney -- as well as Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corp.

The three companies intended to launch a sports-focused streaming app called Venu Sports.

Fubo viewed the platform as anticompetitive -- and as one that would break federal antitrust regulations.

The story has been updated.