Media companies scrap Venu Sports streaming service before it even started

The planned streaming service Venu Sports has been scrapped before it ever started.

ESPN, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery announced Friday they were pulling the plug on Venu. It had been expected to make available sports products from all three services as a mid-priced entry for cable cord-cutters who wanted more a bare minimum of sports.

Its planned launch last year was stopped due to a court fight with Fubo’s streaming business. Although that was recently settled, other companies had signaled they were going to oppose Venu.

At the same time, in the constantly-changing maze of businesses offering services to people who want to abandon cable, other options were becoming available to people who were Venu’s target audience.

“In an ever-changing marketplace, we determined that it was best to meet the evolving demands of sports fans by focusing on existing products and distribution channels,” ESPN, Fox and WBD said in a joint statement on Friday.

For ESPN, for example, that means concentrating on its own streaming service due to launch later this year.