Analyst: Disney Should Add ESPN to Bundle Instead of Launching Standalone Platform; What New Bundle Could Look Like
It’s hard to keep market analysts from chiming in every time Disney announces it is considering a major move with one of its corporate segments. The company’s decisions have market-wide consequences, after all, which is one reason senior MoffettNathanson research analyst Michael Nathanson has some advice for Disney this week.
According to NextTV, Nathanson’s opinion is that Disney should avoid launching a new direct-to-consumer streaming service when it begins offering the full suite of ESPN channels without a cable subscription. Instead, the company should integrate ESPN with its other streaming offerings via the Disney Bundle.
Nathanson’s reasoning is that offering ESPN alongside other entertainment options will help reduce churn and create non-programming cost savings. There are certainly high costs associated with creating and launching a totally new streaming platform, whereas Nathanson seems to be suggesting that Disney could simply build out the current ESPN+ platform to include all of ESPN’s linear programming.
So what would a Disney Bundle that includes ESPN look like? For one thing, there would likely be no more ESPN+. The only justifiable reason Disney would have for keeping ESPN+ going would be that it may give budget-conscious sports fans more of a reason to stick around. ESPN+ currently costs $9.99 per month, whereas the much wider array of high-profile professional and college sports games available on full ESPN dictates the price of a streaming version of that product will be much higher.
That means that the cost of the Bundle would rise, as well. Currently, the most expensive version of the Disney Bundle features ad-free versions of Disney+ and Hulu, as well as the sole version of ESPN+, which always carries ads on live content, for $19.99 per month. Separately, these services would cost $36 monthly, so users are definitely getting good value by bundling.
Offering ESPN inside the Disney Bundle would preserve a portion of that value, but the price would still have to rise. Last month, The Streamable predicted that a standalone ESPN service would cost roughly $44.99 per month, but admitted that with no timeline officially announced, there are countless variables that could impact the final pricing. But, if that total ends up being at least in the ballpark, users might be asked to pay between $50 and $70 per month for this full, hypothetical Disney Bundle, depending on whether they choose ad-supported or ad-free versions of Disney+ and Hulu. Additional features, such as the ability to stream ESPN in 4K (which the channel does not currently offer) could drive the price even higher.
Of course, Disney currently offers multiple versions of the Disney Bundle ranging from two services for $9.99 per month up to the aforementioned $19.99 option. So theoretically, the company could make the fleshed-out version of ESPN just another option in the Disney Bundle. If customers opt to include it, their price will obviously go up, but so would their savings.
All of this is simple conjecture, at least for the moment. There has been no official confirmation that Disney is looking to launch a streaming-only version of ESPN at all, though initial reports from May were based on solid insider information. A streaming version of the ESPN family of networks is almost certainly in the works, as company executives like CEO Bob Iger have repeatedly stated that offering such a product would be great for customers. But if Disney takes Michael Nathanson’s advice, ESPN will be integrated into the Disney Bundle instead of being offered as its own streaming service like ESPN+.
ESPN+
ESPN+ is a live TV streaming service that gives access to thousands of live sporting events, original shows like Peyton’s Place, the entire library of 30 for 30, E:60, The Last Dance, as well exclusive written analysis from top ESPN insiders. Sports available on ESPN+ include NFL, MLB, NHL, UFC, College Football, F1, Bundesliga, PGA Tour, La Liga, and more.