This week in streaming, ESPN announces new streamer details; catch up on ‘Murderbot’ and ‘Duster’
This week in streaming, ESPN announces new streamer details; catch up on ‘Murderbot’ and ‘Duster’
The Disney-owned sports cabler will launch its new streaming service later this year in time for fall football.
This week in streaming news, the wait is nearly over for ESPN’s new streaming service, which has finally launched its name, details, and price menu for its planned fall launch.
Plus, two of this month’s biggest series debuted ahead of the weekend, with three episodes to catch up on between the two — update your watchlist with our watch recommendations!
This week’s biggest streaming news:
This week in streaming news, the wait is nearly over for ESPN’s new streaming service, which has finally launched its name, details, and price menu for its planned fall launch.
Plus, two of this month’s biggest series debuted ahead of the weekend, with three episodes to catch up on between the two— update your watchlist with our watch recommendations!
This week’s biggest streaming news:
ESPN announces its new streaming service name, details
Here it is, sports fans! After years of development, ESPN has released the official name and details of its new streaming service, set to launch later this year.
Formerly known as the working title Flagship, the new streamer will come under the cleverly named ESPN and include access to ESPN’s cable channels and select ABC sporting events. ESPN is planning its launch around both college football and Monday Night Football season, and between ESPN and FOX’s new streaming service, Fox One, cordcutters will have more access than ever to their favorite teams… if they find the price worth it.
The new streaming service will have two pricing plans, including an unlimited option that offers ESPN’s full complement of cable channels, such as ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPN Deportes, ACC Network, and more.
The unlimited plan will cost $30 per month, or $300 per year, as an individual service, but subscribers can also go the route of the Disney Bundle with Disney+ and Hulu included and instead pay either $36 (ad-supported) or $45 (ad-free) per month.
The other option is to go for the streamer’s select plan, which will effectively take the place of ESPN+ and cost $12 per month/$120 per year as a standalone service. The select plan will also be available with the Disney Bundle. When the service officially switches over, existing ESPN+ subscribers will automatically become subscribers to ESPN’s new service, based on their current subscription level.
Additionally, select DIRECTV customers will also get ESPN included in their subscription at no extra cost, courtesy of the two sides’ carriage deal in 2024.
Catch up on our recent stories related to ESPN’s new streaming service
- ESPN’s new streaming service will officially be called… ESPN
- Is ESPN+ going to shut down now that an ESPN streamer is coming?
- Is the new ESPN streamer worth $30 per month?
- How does ESPN’s new streamer stack up to other sports-focused options?
- What do new ESPN, Fox streaming services mean for sports fans?
ESPN
ESPN is a TV channel that you can watch with a live TV streaming service.
- DIRECTV MySports
- $44.99 / month
- Sling TV Essentials
- $19.99 / month
What to stream this weekend: Put the pedal to the metal with ‘Duster’
“Duster” had a long green-light period and a writers’ strike to contend with, but there’s no stopping the new Max crime thriller series, co-created by J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan, part of Abrams’ overall deal at WarnerMedia and Morgan’s with Warner Bros. Television Group.
Rachel Hilson gets co-top billing in the crime thriller-drama, which gets a sleek and sexy 1970s Southwest backdrop, as Nina Hayes, the FBI’s first Black woman agent, who joins forces with a talented getaway driver (Josh Holloway, reuniting with his “Lost” collaborator Abrams) to stop a crime syndicate.
Watch the trailer for ‘Duster’ below:
The ensemble also features the talents of Keith David, Sydney Elisabeth, Greg Grunberg, Camille Guaty, Asivak Koostachin, and more.
The first episode, written by the co-creators, premiered exclusively on Max on May 15. A new episode will be released on the platform every Thursday through July 3.
Duster
In 1972, the first Black female FBI agent heads to the Southwest and recruits a gutsy getaway driver in a bold effort to take down a growing crime syndicate.
What to stream this weekend: Figure out the meaning of life with ‘Murderbot’
Alexander Skarsgård has gone rogue.
The “True Blood” and “Succession” star is switching streamers for his latest major TV role, the sci-fi comedy “Murderbot” on Apple TV+, which premiered its first episodes on Friday, May 16.
Created by brothers Chris and Paul Weitz and adapted from Martha Wells’ award-winning “The Murderbot Diaries” novels, “Murderbot” centers on a sarcastic, emotionally repressed, and deeply relatable android who is more interested in catching up on its shows and soap operas than dealing with humans. Unfortunately for the misanthropic Murderbot, a security cyborg, it still has to protect them. But soon, it secretly gains free will and must hide its abilities while continuing to accept dangerous assignments and grapple with a major identity crisis.
The series also co-stars David Dastmalchian, Noma Dumezweni, Sabrina Wu, Tattiawna Jones, and more, and with such a stacked ensemble and its mix of humor and heart, it’s no surprise “Murderbot” is already picking up raves, with a 98% Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Watch the trailer for ‘Murderbot’ below:
The first two episodes of “Murderbot” are currently available on Apple TV+. A new episode of the action-comedy-sci-fi series will drop on the platform every Friday through July 11.
Murderbot
In a high-tech future, a rogue security robot secretly gains free will. To stay hidden, it reluctantly joins a new mission protecting scientists on a dangerous planet… even though it just wants to binge soap operas.