As parent Disney enhances its streaming future and focus on direct-to-consumer products, ESPN is shifting more of its content to ESPN+.
The sports streamer is launching “ESPN Radio TV on ESPN” — which brings five ESPN radio shows exclusively to the platform starting Nov. 9 for live and on-demand viewers. The shows are: “The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz,” “The Max Kellerman Show,” “Greey, “ Chiney & Golic Jr” and “Jorge Ramos y Su Banda.”
Also moving to ESPN+ is much of its long-form written content.
ESPN.com will carry breaking news outside a pay wall, but features will move behind it. Plus, some of the network’s popular writers will move to ESPN+: Bill Barnwell, Zach Lowe, Matthew Berry, Jackie MacMullan, Jeff Passan, Malika Andrews, Kevin Arnovitz, Stephania Bell, Michael Collins, Bill Connelly, Heather Dinich, Kirk Goldsberry, Alden Gonzalez, Dan Graziano, Baxter Holmes, Dave Schoenfield, Kevin Seifert, Ramona Shelburne, Andre Snellings, Wright Thompson, Seth Wickersham, Brian Windhorst, and Greg Wyshynski.
The goal is to up subscription traffic, since an estimated 10% of ESPN+’s written output is by subscription.
“These moves bring additional personality, insight and entertainment to ESPN+ every day, while cementing a daily studio lineup and building a deeper, broader collection of written work that makes fans smarter,” said Connor Schell, executive vice president of content, ESPN.
“The combination of talented, trusted ESPN voices and unmatched insider expertise, alongside the entire 30 for 30 library and groundbreaking originals that feature some of the biggest names in sports, means ESPN+ is offering subscribers a collection of premium video and written content they cannot find anywhere else,” he added.
ESPN+ is available for $5.99 a month, or $49.99 per year, or for $12.99 as part of the Disney Bundle (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+). The service reached 8.5 million subscribers in Disney’s Q3 2020 earnings report, that was up from 6.6 million subscribers at the end of 2019.