[NEW YORK] Three weeks after ESPN launched an online version of its pay-TV network, parent Walt Disney is racing to cut deals with cable providers so viewers can see all of what’s on the new service.
Called ESPN, the sports platform was launched with fanfare on Aug 21, offering the TV network’s programming and more at no added cost to cable customers and US$30 a month for others.
So far, however, only about half of US pay-TV customers are able to view the full slate of programming and are barred in particular from games and shows on ESPN+, a separate service that’s supposed to be part of the new plan.
That leaves millions of ESPN’s 66 million subscribers without complete access. The exceptions include some of the biggest pay-TV providers: Comcast, YouTube TV, Dish and Altice USA. Their customers are unable to view programming that’s exclusively online. ESPN, for example, offered five such NFL games on Aug 23.
“There was no way to watch the preseason NFL games featured in the ESPN app without paying an additional and largely duplicative US$30/month,” analyst Richard Greenfield of LightShed Partners wrote in a Sep 2 note.
Many features of the new service are available to pay-TV subscribers immediately, such as the ability to get personalised highlights and news through ESPN’s redesigned app. Disney said that it expects to have deals with the vast majority of providers in place by the end of the year.
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ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro addressed the issue at a press event ahead of the launch of the new platform.
“There are some providers out there where we currently have not agreed to provide that access, but we are working on it,” he said.
This week, Cox Communications said that it reached a deal with Disney to provide full access. DirecTV satellite customers are expected to gain access later this fall. Its streaming customers already have it, the company said.
ESPN is pushing customers to use the new service through on-air promotions, even though some cable customers cannot access some of the programming.
“Why do that if most do not have access to a lot of the content within the new app experience?” Greenfield asked.
He said that Disney may try to squeeze more money from cable providers when their contracts for programming come up for renewal.
“Disney is utilising its original ESPN playbook of creating a new network, pushing more and more live content to that new network, and then forcing distributors to carry it and pay for it across the vast majority of their subscriber base,” he wrote. “If successful, this approach is a far better business model than direct-to-consumer streaming.” BLOOMBERG
