ESPN to launch $4.99/month streaming service this spring, live TV requires ESPN subscripti...
Disney CEO Bob Iger on Tuesday officially announced plans to debut a long-rumored ESPN streaming service, saying the sports-centric offering will launch this spring as part of a redesigned ESPN app.
Called ESPN Plus, the service will allow users to stream ESPN content on mobile platforms including iOS and Android, as well as set-top streaming devices like ChromeCast, reports Variety. Beyond ChromeCast, support for other set-top streaming platforms, like Apple TV, was not mentioned.
Priced at $4.99 per month, ESPN Plus is set to debut this spring alongside a revamped version of ESPN's app, suggesting the company is targeting mobile users before moving on to at-home streamers.
The service provides access to a "highly personalized" set of sports news, score and highlights delivered to users based on where they live, what teams they like and other metrics. Subscribers can also browse ESPN's catalog of documentaries, special shows and live events broadcast on other networks, the report said.
Users who are ESPN subscribers through "traditional or non-traditional" methods can also stream live TV from network's stable of channels.
"This will enable people to access ESPN just about any way imaginable," Iger said during Disney's earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2018. "If anything points to what the future of ESPN looks like, it will be this."
Amid a sea of content, streaming providers have increasingly turned to specialized curation algorithms in a bid to deliver customized user experiences. Apple Music, for example, leans on its curation technologies to goose track and artist discoverability.
News that ESPN was working on a streaming service arrived last August when Disney acquired BAMTech for $1 billion. A spinoff from Major League Baseball's Advanced Media division, the video streaming specialist is an established provider of direct-to-consumer products and is expected play a key role in developing streaming offerings for other Disney properties in the future.
Called ESPN Plus, the service will allow users to stream ESPN content on mobile platforms including iOS and Android, as well as set-top streaming devices like ChromeCast, reports Variety. Beyond ChromeCast, support for other set-top streaming platforms, like Apple TV, was not mentioned.
Priced at $4.99 per month, ESPN Plus is set to debut this spring alongside a revamped version of ESPN's app, suggesting the company is targeting mobile users before moving on to at-home streamers.
The service provides access to a "highly personalized" set of sports news, score and highlights delivered to users based on where they live, what teams they like and other metrics. Subscribers can also browse ESPN's catalog of documentaries, special shows and live events broadcast on other networks, the report said.
Users who are ESPN subscribers through "traditional or non-traditional" methods can also stream live TV from network's stable of channels.
"This will enable people to access ESPN just about any way imaginable," Iger said during Disney's earnings conference call for the first quarter of 2018. "If anything points to what the future of ESPN looks like, it will be this."
Amid a sea of content, streaming providers have increasingly turned to specialized curation algorithms in a bid to deliver customized user experiences. Apple Music, for example, leans on its curation technologies to goose track and artist discoverability.
News that ESPN was working on a streaming service arrived last August when Disney acquired BAMTech for $1 billion. A spinoff from Major League Baseball's Advanced Media division, the video streaming specialist is an established provider of direct-to-consumer products and is expected play a key role in developing streaming offerings for other Disney properties in the future.
Comments
Wow. Where do I sign up?
Disney is supposedly a well run company, but .........
............sorry I can’t figure out how to end this sentence without using @#$&.
But then PS Vue got to D/FW first and I got hooked on that, or more importantly my wife and son got hooked on the other channels, and ESPN can suck it now. No need to pay $5 for their slew of channels when I only want to watch a couple of games a year on it, not when I can pay a little more and get a lot more. Sorry ESPN, should have spent more time on your App and delivery platforms and less time "ro-BUSTing" your forums.
10 years ago, I would work from home and reroll SC all morning to catch things from the day before. Don't tell me you didn't ;-)
We would all watch the highlights. No one needs that now. The highlights are online 10 minutes after they happen. (Giannis dunk, anyone?)
Their blathering shows that started with "Cold Pizza" (remember that name?) that morphed into the First Take mess - which stays on the air only because their takes make it to social media and stirs up interest. There is virtually no one watching live TV at that point in the day, so the share is high with very few eyeballs.
In the past, the only real reasons to watch ESPN was SC(highlights) and live games and maybe some pregame shows. The rest has always been silly filler. Highlight shows are dead, filler isn't worth paying for, and live games aren't included.
Sounds like a winner. /sarcasm
ESPN has had these programming and delivery issues for quite some time, and that is what is really driving their actual losses.
I, like many people, only watched SC and games. Now I only watch games, and not nearly as often as I used to.
Getting "too political" is just your opinion, as they have always reported on political aspects in sports, and yes, had opinions. This may drive you away, but it is nothing new, except that a groupthink has arisen specifically stating they are too political. (EDIT: In fact, most people saying they are too political have never even actually watched the show. They just heard they were via social media.) Believe it or not, people can ignore these things, or they can even be attracted by it. It is possible, and even likely, that they see that raising political issues actually stems the tide of falling viewership. They know the numbers better than you or me.
Here - this guy goes into much more detail about what's going on:
http://www.eugenewei.com/blog/2018/1/9/outdated-playbooks-from-the-age-of-scarcity
ESPN shows up pretty far down in the post
No thanks
I still think there is a model for customized ads. Sign up for a game, and have a viewer adjustable field to allow ads to be customized to your likes/dislikes. The provider then pays you a very modest fee (like a penny an ad?) you can redeem for a future purchase.
Tim? Craig? anyone? Buhler?
The question I have is whether live sports will be included in ESPN Plus. This article implies no, but other articles I've read imply yes. If you can be a cord cutter and get live sports for $5/month, this will be a hit. For many people I know, that's all they want in addition to free OTA channels. If you still need some sort of cable or streaming package to get the live sports portion, then this will be a major dud.
Update: ESPN Plus WILL include live sports, it's just not clear if these are "Extra" type games or will include the same games that are broadcast on ESPN TV channels...