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The Disney+ website on a laptop in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., on Monday, July 18, 2022.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | fake images
ESPN, Fox and Walt Disney’s Warner Bros. Discovery plan to launch a joint sports streaming service this fall, giving consumers a new way to access live sports for the first time, the companies said Tuesday.
The platform, which will be owned by a newly formed company with its own leadership team, does not yet have a name or price. Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery will each own a third of the stake.
Consumers could subscribe directly through a new app. Subscribers would also have the possibility of combining the product with the streaming platforms of the companies Disney+, Hulu and Max.
The product will be a linear networking package that is slimmer than a standard cable offering, designed specifically for sports fans. It will consist of all broadcast and cable networks owned by Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery that broadcast sports, along with ESPN+.
From Disney, that includes ESPN and its sister networks, such as ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, as well as the ABC broadcast network. Warner Bros. Discovery networks that show sports are TNT, TBS and TruTV. Fox will include the Fox broadcast station along with FS1, FS2 and BTN.
The product launch will not prevent ESPN from offering a full direct-to-consumer streaming product, something Disney is still investigating, according to a person familiar with the matter. ESPN has previously said it plans to launch that product this year or next.
The competitors hope to form the joint service at a time when the value of sports media rights is rising but viewers have stopped watching on traditional cable.
Disney, in particular, has suffered a shift away from its ESPN network and has looked for new ways to revive the business.
This is breaking news. Please check for updates.