Disney plans to add a dedicated ESPN section to the Disney+ app later this year. This follows the introduction of a new Hulu hub earlier this year, which makes it possible for bundle subscribers to access Hulu content in the Disney+ app. It also comes ahead of the launch of a standalone ESPN streaming service.
In fact, the addition of ESPN to Disney+ is being positioned as one of the stepping stones for the launch of the standalone ESPN service. Disney’s Bob Iger confirmed as much in the company’s latest earnings call, stating the addition of ESPN is designed to ‘condition’ Disney+ and Hulu subscribers to the fact that “sports is going to be there” in the future.
As this is being viewed as a way to introduce subscribers to sports content in the app, it is not expected that the full ESPN experience will be available at launch. Instead, U.S. subscribers can expect access to “select live games and studio programming” once the ESPN hub goes live.
“We see this as a first step to bring ESPN to Disney+ viewers as we ready the launch of our enhanced standalone ESPN streaming service in the fall of 2025,” Iger said.
As part of today’s earnings release, Disney also confirmed ESPN+ ended the first calendar quarter of 2024 with 24.8 million subscribers, a decrease of around 400,000 on the 25.2 million reported at the end of 2023.
As a reminder, and unlike the existing ESPN+ streaming service, the standalone ESPN streaming subscription is expected to be available as part of the Disney+ bundle, and unlock access to the live ESPN channels. All of which will make it a good addition for sports fans to have access to.
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