Credit: DisneyThe Walt Disney Company is finally realizing what most people have known for years: linear TV is dying. This leaves Disney with dozens of channels that may no longer have an audience.
Between 2019 and 2022, cable companies lost six million subscribers per year. After the pandemic, that number jumped to almost eight million a year. Linear TV lost over 20 percent of its subscriber base in five years.
This past week, Disney began a significant shakeup at ABC aimed at cutting costs as ad revenue dries up at Disney’s flagship station, but that was nothing more than rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
Despite broadcast television’s fledgling nature, Disney still has one of the most valuable commodities in television: live sports. The Walt Disney Company wants its flagship sports network to deliver live programming directly into homes without needing a cable bundle.
Disney announced it would move the EPSN networks to a streaming-only platform, but that transition has taken longer than expected. However, it may be coming sooner than we think.
ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro spoke at the Columbia University Sports Management Conference to update the progress on the new streaming service. Jimmy Pitaro said:
It’s not just about flipping the switch and making the network available direct-to-consumer. When we do this, it will come with significant product enhancements. Yes, you’ll be able to get all of our networks.
But the shoulder experience around the video will be much more interactive and it will be much more personalized. … I could go on and on, but we have an army of engineers and designers on all of this right now.
The new ESPN streaming platform will offer viewers enhanced features, including multi-screen viewing and full integration with ESPN Bet, Disney’s new sports gambling service. The latest ESPN app will also give viewers enhanced stats, fantasy content, and user personalization.
Unlike other networks, EPSN has its hand in just about every sports league. The Disney media network has NFL Monday Night Football, the NBA, Major League Baseball, and hundreds of college football and basketball games, including the College Football Playoff. ESPN will also broadcast the Super Bowl in 2026 and 2030.
Disney CEO Bob Iger expects the new ESPN app to be ready in 2025. However, Iger also knows that moving live sports away from cable TV will destroy linear TV. This would also hasten the end of some of Disney’s other channels that do not carry live sports.
To help bolster ABC, Disney announced that it would be bringing Monday Night Football to the network for six games this season. Disney did something similar last year during the SAG/AFTRA Strike.
ESPN’s future is to bring its sports content to the masses via a streaming-only platform, even if that destroys what’s left of cable TV.