ESPN streamer not expected to poach customers from cable
ESPN streamer not expected to poach customers from cable
Most analysts say that the new streamer maintain a modest subscriber total, and will not lure too many viewers away from their pay-TV plans.
Ever since the new ESPN streaming service announced its official name and price last week, there has been a lot of talk about the service’s ability to disrupt the already-fragile balance of the pay-TV ecosystem. But according to Matthew Belloni of Puck News, the new service isn’t expected to grab a large swath of new customers from existing pay-TV bundles.
Key Details:
- Just like Venu: The new ESPN streamer is meant to serve cord-cutters and cord-nevers, much like Venu Sports.
- Modest expectations: The service isn’t expected to draw more than a couple of million subscribers.
- Pricing balance: The $30 price tag of ESPN gives current pay-TV customers little incentive to cancel.
According to Belloni, the new ESPN streaming service will find most of its audience amongst cord-cutters and streaming bundlers. That’s more or less the argument advanced by Disney and its cohorts, Fox and Warner Bros. Discover,y when they tried to launch the sports joint venture Venu Sports together in 2024. Pay-TV distributors weren’t buying that line of reasoning at the time, but the new ESPN streaming service is admittedly a very different product, as it only features channels from one company.
The streamer isn’t expected to attract more than “a couple of million” new subscribers, according to Belloni. Sports fans already living outside the pay-TV world will have some interest, but there likely aren’t enough of these to completely transform the face of the industry.
The new ESPN streaming service will be available as a standalone product for $30 per month, and will offer all live sports viewers can see on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, and other channels under that programming canopy. Customers will also be able to get the streamer as part of the Disney Bundle, starting at $36 per month.
We at The Streamable have already broken down ESPN’s power to pull viewers away from traditional pay-TV relationships. Viewers who are signed up for pay-TV packages between $45 and $80 per month may not see any value in canceling those plans in order to pay $30 per month just for ESPN.
As we’ve said before, this is exactly the way Disney wants it. It has to preserve relationships with pay-TV distributors in the short term, while building up its streaming apparatus for a more complete pivot in the years to come. By pricing the new service relatively high, Disney is attempting to allay the concerns of cable, satellite, and live TV streaming providers that the ESPN streamer will cause a significant number of their subscribers to cancel. Disney still pulls in key revenue from linear distribution, and disrupting that financial stream now makes little sense.
The new ESPN streamer still provides viewers with a way to access the channel’s full complement of sporting events outside of the pay-TV bundle for the first time, but its power to topple the cable world may be muted, considering its price and target audience.
ESPN Select
ESPN Select is a streaming service that replaced ESPN+ and provides access to live NHL, MLB, and MLS games, PGA Tour Golf, international sports events, ESPN original programming, and a complete archive of “30 for 30.” Find out our review of the service and how to start streaming ESPN Select.