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    Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro now available in U.S. after shortages, FDA says

    All doses of Eli Lilly’s highly popular weight loss injection Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro are now available in the U.S., according to an update on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage database.
    The update comes one day after Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said shortages of Mounjaro and Zepbound would end “very soon.” 
    Demand for weight loss and diabetes drugs has trounced supply for months, pushing Eli Lilly and its rival Novo Nordisk to invest billions to ramp up manufacturing. 

    An injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, is displayed in New York City on Dec. 11, 2023.
    Brendan McDermid | Reuters

    All doses of Eli Lilly’s highly popular weight loss injection Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro are now available in the U.S., according to an update on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s drug shortage database on Friday. 
    A previous update said some doses of the treatments were still in short supply. Some doses of Mounjaro have been in shortage since as early as 2022, while doses of Zepbound joined the FDA’s shortage list earlier this year following its U.S. approval in November. 

    Demand for weight loss and diabetes drugs has trounced supply for months, pushing Eli Lilly and its rival Novo Nordisk to invest billions to ramp up manufacturing. 
    The FDA’s update comes one day after Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks told Bloomberg that the shortages of Mounjaro and Zepbound would end “very soon.” 
    “I think actually today or tomorrow we plan to exit that process,” he told the outlet in an interview. 
    A spokesperson for Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the FDA’s update on Friday. 
    All doses of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes injection Ozempic are available in the U.S. as of Friday, according to the FDA’s database. Meanwhile, the FDA said some doses of Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wegovy have limited supply.

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    Mortgage rates plunge to the lowest level in more than a year after weak employment report

    The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage dropped 22 basis points to 6.4% Friday, according to Mortgage News Daily.
    The drop followed a weaker-than-expected monthly employment report, which sent bond yields falling fast.
    The recent high on the 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.52% in late April, and home sales have been falling ever since.

    A “For Sale” sign in front of a home in Arlington, Virginia, on Aug. 22, 2023.
    Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | AFP | Getty Images

    The average rate on the popular 30-year fixed mortgage dropped 22 basis points to 6.4% Friday, according to Mortgage News Daily. That is the lowest rate since April 2023. The 15-year fixed rate fell to 5.89%, its lowest level since early May 2023.
    The drop followed a weaker-than-expected monthly employment report, which sent bond yields falling fast. Mortgage rates loosely follow the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury.

    “Between [Federal Reserve Chair Jerome] Powell’s equivocal openness to ‘multiple cuts’ in 2024 on Wednesday and this morning’s sharply weaker jobs report (something Powell didn’t even know about on Wednesday), the more aggressive rate cut narrative is quickly coming into focus,” wrote Matthew Graham, chief operating officer at Mortgage News Daily. 
    There are still two inflation reports and another employment report before the Fed’s September meeting, Graham noted, adding, “If they don’t offer strong counterpoints to recent data, the rate cut cycle has not only begun, but it will likely involve a certain sense of urgency.”
    The 30-year fixed rate started the week at 6.81%, so the drop in just the past five days is dramatic. The recent high was 7.52% in late April, and home sales have been falling ever since. Buyers were battling not just high interest rates, but also high home prices and a lack of supply. Supply has since improved, but prices are still overheated.
    The difference in just a few months is stark when it comes to affordability. In April, a buyer looking to purchase a $400,000 home with a 20% down payment and a 30-year fixed mortgage would have been facing a monthly payment of about $2,240, not including insurance and property taxes. Today, that monthly payment would be about $2,000. More buyers would also qualify for the loan at today’s lower rates.
    Mortgage applications to purchase a home have been running about 15% below where they were at this time last year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. This latest drop could kick-start demand.
    “The market is moving ahead of the Fed, bringing down longer-term rates including those for mortgages, which should lead to both more home purchases and a pickup in refinance activity,” wrote Mike Fratantoni, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association, in a news release.

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    Delta CEO offers employees free flights after CrowdStrike-Microsoft chaos

    Delta CEO Ed Bastian told employees that they would get two passes for travel anywhere the airline serves.
    Delta struggled to recover from the botched CrowdStrike software update that sparked an outage of Windows systems around the world.
    The more than 5,000 cancellations and reimbursements to customers cost Delta some $500 million, Bastian told CNBC earlier this week, and it plans to sue for damages.

    Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, speaks during a keynote at CES 2020 in Las Vegas on Jan. 7, 2020.
    Bridget Bennett | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian on Friday offered employees two free travel passes to thank staff members who were caught in massive disruptions last month sparked by a botched CrowdStrike software update that stranded thousands of customers and crew.
    Delta had more trouble than competitors in recovering from the outages that took thousands of Windows machines offline around the world, affecting industries from health care to banking.

    The carrier canceled more than 5,000 flights between July 19 and July 24, more than it did in all of 2019, according to FlightAware. Bastian said earlier this week that the incident cost the company about $500 million, a sum that is equal to about 40% of Delta’s second-quarter profit. A crew-tracking platform was a contributor to the cancellations and disruptions, the airline has said.
    Delta told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday that the airline had to manually reset 40,000 servers.
    The disruption “has been a humbling moment for our company,” Bastian said in his note on Friday, which was seen by CNBC. “I know it’s been extremely difficult, and I’m deeply sorry for what you have endured. An operational disruption of this length and magnitude is simply unacceptable — you and our customers deserve better.”
    Upward of 4,000 Delta flight attendants picked up more than 6,100 trips during the disruptions, receiving extra pay, according to another Delta staff memo on Friday.
    “Your efforts throughout have been nothing short of heroic,” Bastian told staff.

    The two “positive space” passes Bastian offered employees are confirmed seats like a customer would have, different from the free standby flying airline employees often do if there are available seats.
    The Delta organizing committee of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which is in the middle of a campaign to unionize Delta’s flight attendants, said the offer of passes “just isn’t going to cut it.” The organizing committee, in a written statement, said airline management routinely makes “meager adjustments to keep the operation running without making changes significant enough to prevent a future meltdown.”
    Delta’s operation has since stabilized but the flight cancellations and delays stranded thousands and scarred Delta’s high reliability standings. Its executives frequently point out Delta’s successful work to win over both leisure and corporate customers who are willing to pay more to fly the carrier, marketing itself as a premium airline.
    A Delta spokesman earlier this week said the airline has processed “thousands” of refunds and reimbursement requests. 
    The U.S. Department of Transportation is investigating Delta’s disruptions, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said last week. Similar disruptions at other carriers, such as the massive 2022 holiday meltdown at Southwest Airlines after winter storms, have highlighted how technology issues can severely disrupt air travel.
    Bastian said Delta plans to pursue legal action against CrowdStrike and Microsoft “to recover our losses caused by the outage” and that it has hired law firm Boies Schiller Flexner.
    Microsoft declined to comment. CrowdStrike said it has “no knowledge of a lawsuit and have no further comment.” 

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    Jeff Bezos’ family office is making big investments in AI

    All of the investments made this year by Bezos’ family office — called Bezos Expeditions — have been in artificial intelligence, according to data provided to CNBC by FINTRX, a private wealth intelligence platform.
    Bezos Expeditions has always tilted heavily toward tech.
    Fully 70% of the family office’s investments are in technology, according to FINTRX.
    According to the UBS Global Family Office Report, AI is now the favorite investment category for family offices.

    Jeff Bezos at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on July 10, 2024.
    David Grogan | CNBC

    A version of this article first appeared in CNBC’s Inside Wealth newsletter with Robert Frank, a weekly guide to the high net worth investor and consumer. Sign up to receive future editions, straight to your inbox.
    Jeff Bezos has been making headlines for his big-ticket purchases — from a $165 million estate in Los Angeles and a $177 million property on Miami’s Indian Creek to his $500 million yacht.

    Yet, Bezos’ biggest recent buying binge may be in artificial intelligence, through his family office.
    All of the investments made this year by Bezos’ family office — called Bezos Expeditions — have been in artificial intelligence, according to exclusive data provided to CNBC by FINTRX, a private wealth intelligence platform. While the amounts he invested are not disclosed, Bezos Expeditions participated in funding rounds totaling more than $1 billion.
    In January, the Amazon founder and executive chairman invested in the $73.6 million Series B round of Perplexity AI, an AI-powered search engine company. He also invested in a $63 million follow-on round in April. The value of Bezos Expeditions’ January investment likely doubled by April, since the company says its valuation soared to between $2.5 billion and $3 billion.
    In February, Bezos Expeditions invested in Figure AI, the humanoid-robot company that also counts Nvidia and Microsoft as investors. The venture round totaled $675 million.
    In July, he invested in a $300 million Series A round of Skild AI, which is focused on making AI systems for machines and robotics devices.

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    Bezos Expeditions has always tilted heavily toward tech. Fully 70% of his family office investments are in technology, according to FINTRX. The next-biggest category is consumer goods, at 16%, followed by financial services and manufacturing, both at 13%. But now, his primary focus seems to be AI.
    In a podcast interview in January, Bezos said AI tools are “not inventions, but discoveries” that will have profound effects on technology and change. “These powerful tools are much more likely to help us and save us even than they are to unbalance, hurt us and destroy us,” he said.

    Bezos has plenty of company among family offices. According to the UBS Global Family Office Report, AI is now the favorite investment category for family offices. More than three-quarters, or 78%, of family offices surveyed plan to invest in AI in the next two to three years — the most for any category.
    Amazon has also been ploughing money into AI. The company plans to invest more than $100 billion in data centers over the next decade and invested $4 billion in Anthropic, the AI safety and research firm.
    Bezos recently filed a stock-sale plan to unload another $5 billion worth of Amazon shares this year, after selling $8 billion worth earlier this year. With more than $13 billion in cash, Bezos will now have even more money to bet on the AI boom.

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    What is going wrong for Intel?

    THE MARKET reaction was brutal. On August 1st Intel released a dismal set of results. The semiconductor giant’s sales were down by 1%, year on year, and the company declared a net loss of $1.6bn, compared with a profit of $1.5bn in the same period in 2023. “Our costs are too high, our margins are too low,” wrote Pat Gelsinger, its chief executive, in a note to employees. As a consequence, Intel plans to slash 15,000 jobs and to suspend dividends, which it has paid since 1992. Since the results were published its share price has plunged by nearly 30%. More

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    NASA weighs Boeing vs. SpaceX choice in bringing back Starliner astronauts

    NASA management has been discussing this week whether it should return the agency’s astronauts on board Boeing’s misfiring Starliner capsule or send back the spacecraft empty.
    SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft would serve as the likely alternative to return the crew from the ISS.
    For its part, Boeing remains confident that Starliner can return the astronauts safely, and no decision has been made yet.
    But the concerns reveal that there is less confidence internally on Starliner than the agency has publicly disclosed.

    Boeing spacecraft Starliner is seen from the window of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule “Endeavour” on July 3, 2024 while docked with the International Space Station during the crew flight test.

    NASA management has been in deep discussion this week about whether to return the agency’s astronauts on board Boeing’s misfiring Starliner capsule or to go with the alternative of using a SpaceX craft to rescue the crew.
    The agency’s concern with Starliner — which flew NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams to the International Space Station in early June — comes from not having identified a root cause for why multiple of the spacecraft’s thrusters failed during docking, a person familiar with the situation told CNBC.

    NASA this week has been discussing the possibility of returning Starliner empty and instead using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft to return its astronauts. There is no consensus among those responsible for making the decision, that person said, calling the outcome of NASA’s ongoing discussions unpredictable given the variety of factors involved.
    The Starliner capsule “Calypso” has now been in space 59 days and counting. The mission is intended to serve as the final step toward proving Boeing’s long-delayed spacecraft is safe to fly lengthy crew missions to-and-from the ISS.
    The Boeing crew flight was initially planned to last a minimum of nine days. But it has been extended several times while the company and NASA conduct testing both back on the ground and in space in an attempt to understand the thruster problem.
    While NASA and Boeing leadership have publicly characterized the extensions as a data-gathering exercise, the concerns raised in recent days reveal that there is less confidence internally on whether Starliner is safe to return the astronauts than the agency has disclosed.

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    Ars Technica first reported NASA’s mixed opinion on Starliner’s situation. NASA previously noted that SpaceX serves as a backup but has sought to deemphasize that possibility, calling Boeing’s spacecraft the “primary option” for return.

    For its part, Boeing says it has the “flight rationale” to return Starliner with the astronauts on board, meaning the company believes the spacecraft can return without too much risk.
    “We remain confident in the Starliner spacecraft and its ability to return safely with crew. We are supporting NASA’s requests for additional data, analysis and data reviews to affirm the spacecraft’s safe undocking and landing capabilities,” a Boeing spokesperson said in a statement to CNBC on Friday.
    If Starliner returns empty, the most likely alternative would be to bring the astronauts back using SpaceX’s Crew Dragon by removing two astronauts from the Crew-9 mission — currently planned to launch four people in the coming weeks. That would open up two seats for Wilmore and Williams.

    Members of NASA’s Crew-9 stand by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. From left: NASA pilot Nick Hague,

    NASA did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the ongoing Starliner discussions, but told Ars Technica in a statement that the agency “is evaluating all options for the return.”
    “No decisions have been made and the agency will continue to provide updates on its planning,” NASA said.

    Trusting the thrust

    After testing this past weekend, NASA noted that 27 of Starliner’s 28 thrusters appear to be healthy. The thrusters, also known as its reaction control system, or RCS, engines, help the spacecraft move in orbit.
    But from an engineering perspective, not having a root cause for why five of the thrusters failed on the flight to the ISS means that risk remains for more thrusters to malfunction during the return flight.
    Boeing’s Mark Nappi, vice president of the Starliner program, said during a press conference on July 25 that testing of the thrusters has resulted in “very significant” findings that “are likely the root cause.” But despite that, the company has not identified the root cause yet.
    “We’re going to continue to take that hardware apart so that we can finally prove this,” Nappi said at the time.
    NASA now needs to decide if it’s willing to trust that the unknown issue with Starliner’s thrusters does not arise again, or even potentially cascade into other problems.

    An unpredictable outcome

    NASA’s lack of consensus arose when the Commercial Crew Program Control Board met earlier this week to discuss Starliner’s return. PCBs are a standard part of NASA’s decision-making process, dating back to the Space Shuttle era, and are an effort to make sure any risks can be elevated to the highest levels of the agency’s authority.
    The PCB, chaired by Commercial Crew program manager Steve Stich, did not come to a decision on whether to move forward with a flight readiness review, the next major agency step toward establishing a date for Starliner to return. The next PCB meeting is expected in the coming days, with NASA noting in a blog post on Thursday that return planning will continue into next week.
    If any members of the PCB dissent on the decision to return Starliner with crew, the decision would go up the chain of command until the dissent is addressed. As it stands, the discussions within the PCB do not have a predictable outcome as NASA personnel discuss the level of risk involved on returning crew with Starliner.

    Making a choice

    NASA often emphasizes that “astronaut safety remains the top priority” for the agency in making decisions about human spaceflight, an inherently risky endeavor.
    But the choice NASA faces has further ramifications, which threaten Boeing’s involvement in the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. Already, Boeing’s Starliner losses total more than $1.5 billion due to repeated setbacks and years of delays in developing the spacecraft.
    If NASA backs Boeing and returns Wilmore and Williams on Starliner, the agency is accepting a currently unquantifiable amount of risk. A major failure during the return, with the astronauts’ lives at stake, would put NASA leadership under pressure to end Boeing’s contract and involvement in the program.
    If NASA decides to send Starliner back empty, it’s a vote of no confidence in Boeing that may lead the company to cut its losses and withdraw from the program.
    Additionally, if NASA takes the SpaceX alternative and Starliner returns home without incident, the agency faces blowback from being seen as overreacting to a situation that it publicly declared for weeks was not a significant risk. More

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    Olympics draw new investments to niche sports and women’s teams

    USA women’s rugby sevens, water polo, and women’s track and field scored major investments around the 2024 Paris Olympics.
    Flavor Flav, Alexis Ohanian and Michele Kang are among those contributing to lesser-known sports and women’s teams.
    “Niche sports often don’t get the spotlight they deserve, but they are packed with incredible talent and heart,” Flavor Flav said in announcing his support for water polo.

    Players of Team United States celebrate following victory during the Women’s Rugby Sevens Bronze medal match between Team United States and Team Australia on day four of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on July 30, 2024 in Paris, France. 
    Michael Steele | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

    The 2024 Paris Olympics are attracting new funds for lesser-known sports and women’s teams, with USA women’s rugby sevens, water polo and women’s track and field scoring major contributions this year.
    The USA women’s rugby sevens team earned a $4 million gift from investor Michele Kang earlier this week. Rapper and reality TV personality Flavor Flav threw his support behind water polo, and Alexis Ohanian, the husband of tennis superstar Serena Williams and the co-founder of Reddit, is investing in women’s track and field.

    “Niche sports often don’t get the spotlight they deserve, but they are packed with incredible talent and heart,” Flavor Flav said in announcing his support for water polo in July.
    Flavor Flav announced a five-year partnership with USA water polo, which includes funds for the 2024 USA women’s team as well as serving as the “official hype man” for both the men’s and women’s teams. The size of his contribution wasn’t disclosed.

    Flavor Flav of United States of America during the Women’s Water polo Group B match between Greece and United States of America on Day 1 of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Aquatics Centre on July 27, 2024 in Paris, France. 
    Defodi Images | Getty Images

    He pledged to his support after player Maggie Steffens posted on Instagram that she and her teammates often have to work a second or third job in order to compete, given that water polo doesn’t garner as much attention as other sports.
    The USA women’s water polo team has won gold for the past three Olympics, and Flavor Flav aims to elevate their visibility. The partnership includes his commitment to boosting USA water polo on social media, beyond cheering poolside.

    Growing support

    Kang’s contribution to women’s sevens rugby will span four years, providing resources for players and coaching staff ahead of the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

    Kang, who founded Kynisca Sports for the advancement of women’s athletics globally, said that 2024 has been a “banner year” for women’s sports with record-breaking engagement. As sponsors and networks increasingly recognize the value of women’s sports, she said that now is the time to invest in them.

    Team United States celebrate victory as they pose for a photo with the Bell after the Women’s Rugby Sevens Quarter Final match between Team Great Britain and Team United States on day three of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Stade de France on July 29, 2024 in Paris, France. 
    Michael Steele | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images

    The support comes after the women’s rugby sevens team won bronze, collecting the first Olympic medal for the United States in rugby sevens, among both the men’s and women’s teams. They also set a new record for a women’s rugby event, with 66,000 fans packed into Stade de France, according to World Rugby.
    “This Eagles team, led by players like Ilona Maher and co-captains Lauren Doyle and Naya Tapper, has captivated millions of new fans, bringing unprecedented attention to the sport,” Kang said in the announcement.
    Maher told CNBC this week that without a strong performance at the Games, the team may not have survived.
    “Our coach said to us if we don’t win a medal, we might not have a program next year, and so that really stuck with me, those words, and so we delivered,” Maher said.

    Beyond the Games

    Ohanian already co-own’s a women’s soccer club, and he told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this week that he aims to extend the popularity of women’s track and field beyond its Olympics peak.
    He announced in April that his venture capital firm will host a competition in late September with the largest ever prize pool for a women’s track and field event. Ohanian is doubling the stakes of the Paris Games with a $30,000 top prize.
    “Nothing about this is charity nor should it be charity,” Ohanian said. “This is about excellence, about celebrating it.”
    — CNBC’s Jessica Golden, Kasey O’Brien and Nicolas Vega contributed to this report.
    Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032.

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    Venu, a $42.99 per month sports streamer, has a tough marketing challenge to find an audience

    Venu Sports will be a case study in the value of marketing.
    Sling TV already sells a product that’s similar to Venu Sports, and it’s been losing customers for five years.
    Venu said Thursday the streaming service will cost $42.99 per month when it launches this fall.

    Actor Jon Hamm playing Don Draper in Mad Men.
    Michael Yarish | AMC | AP

    Call Don Draper, Venu Sports may have a marketing problem
    The Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery jointly-owned streaming service said Thursday it will launch this fall at $42.99 per month. That’s much more expensive than Netflix, Max, Peacock or any other major subscription streaming service. It’s a lot less than the $73-per-month YouTube TV or a standard cable bundle — but those offerings include a wide variety of entertainment content beyond sports.

    Venu will give consumers access to a bundle of networks: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, Fox, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, and truTV. Subscribers will also get ESPN+. The plan is to debut in time for the football season. It doesn’t include CBS and NBC, two networks that have the rights to many sports, including college football and NFL games.
    Venu’s theoretical user is someone willing to pay a hefty monthly subscription for a narrow segment of media — live sports, but not all live sports. The service is marketing itself as a product for so-called “cord nevers” — a set of younger consumers who haven’t wanted to pay for cable because it’s too expensive but have been yearning for access to ESPN and other live sports.
    It’s entirely unclear this user base will materialize.
    There are two major obstacles for Venu to succeed. First, the total addressable market of users who are OK with paying $43 per month for some sports but not OK with paying for cable may not be that high. Many non-cable subscribers are content to watch highlights on YouTube and their favorite influencers for commentary. According to a survey by Kantar, cited by YouTube at its 2024 upfront, 54% of people would rather watch creators break down a major live event than actually watch the event.
    On the other end of the spectrum, NFL-crazed younger people will have to buy Peacock and Paramount+ — the streaming services attached to NBC and CBS — to get a full slate of NFL games. They could also get a digital antenna to pair with Venu, but antenna uptake among younger viewers may be a tad oxymoronic.

    Other major sporting events — such as the ongoing Olympics — simply won’t be available on Venu, because Olympic broadcaster Comcast’s NBCUniversal isn’t a part of the service.

    An existing player

    The second problem is potentially bigger: A product like Venu already exists — and it may already be a better deal than Venu.
    For $60 per month, Echostar’s Sling TV offers the popular networks that come with Venu — ESPN, TNT, TBS, Fox and ABC — but it also includes NBC. Moreover, it also comes with CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Bravo, USA, HLN, Discovery NFL Network, and a slew of other networks — 46 in all, to Venu’s 14. Plus, it comes with an introductory offer where consumers can pay just $30 for the first month.
    For those that just want ESPN, Sling TV also offers a $40-per-month package that doesn’t include the broadcast networks but does come with TBS, TNT, CNN, and more than 20 other networks.

    Sinseeho | Istock | Getty Images

    As of the end of March, Sling TV had 1.92 million subscribers, and it’s not growing. It lost 135,000 customers in the first quarter, which was actually a narrower loss than the 234,000 subscribers it lost in the first quarter a year ago.
    At the end of 2021, Sling TV had 2.5 million customers, down from the 2.7 million subscribers it topped out at in 2019.
    The company blamed the existence of other streaming services for its decline last quarter.
    “We continue to experience increased competition, including competition from other subscription video-on-demand and live-linear OTT service providers, many of which are providers of our content and offer football and other seasonal sports programming direct to subscribers on an a la carte basis,” Echostar said in a filing.
    To sum up, Sling TV — a more robust offering than Venu for about $17 more per month — has been losing subscribers for five years and never got more than 2.7 million as its peak.
    That’s quite the marketing challenge for Venu, which will need to convince consumers that it’s worth signing up for on the strength of branding and technology.
    Or, it will hope that its $43 per month offer lasts long enough that it can take advantage of the $17 delta. The typical pattern for bundles of live networks is they start with an introductory offer only to raise prices. Venu hinted at this in its press release, telling consumers they could lock in the $43 per-month price for 12 months from time of sign-up — suggesting a price increase may be coming.
    Venu wants to add more sports to the service in time, but that will likely cause the price to increase, making the value proposition an even tougher sell for cord-nevers.
    Further undercutting Venu, Disney is already planning an ESPN Flagship streaming service in the fall of 2025, which will include ESPN for a lower price than Venu.
    Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox will argue that they’re going for maximum coverage here — kind of like the Apple iPad mini did in slotting into the tech company’s existing product line-up between its phones and larger tablets. Maybe there’s an audience for Venu, and if there is, the companies want to serve it. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch has already predicted the service can get 5 million subscribers in the next five years.
    But even 5 million seems ambitious given Sling TV’s struggles. Getting there will require a lot of money spent on marketing.
    And that effort may be so costly that it defeats the purpose.
    Disclosure: CNBC parent NBCUniversal owns NBC Sports and NBC Olympics. NBC Olympics is the U.S. broadcast rights holder to all Summer and Winter Games through 2032. NBC Sports broadcasts NFL games. More