While the idea of ESPN going “the top” as a separate streaming offering has been thwarted for years, Disney CEO Bob Chapek was impressed with the script during the company’s quarterly earnings phone call Wednesday and described it as inevitable. .
“It will be the best offer from fans,” he told Wall Street analysts. “It will attract super fans who really love the sport and I think no one but ESPN can do it honestly. We don’t have many details on the structure, but we believe that because sport is so strong, in fact, in the last quarter, 46 of the 50 most viewed programs on online television were sports. Sport is also “the third stage of our national offer”, she added. “Right now that expression is on the package and I think it could be very powerful for us in the future.”
After repeatedly reviewing second-quarter fiscal results by analysts when asked to reflect on how ESPN’s shift in focus could affect its financial condition, Chapek declined to offer preliminary analysis. However, he has also expressed more clearly optimistic feelings than he or his predecessor Bob Eiger in recent years. Chapek used the phrase “when it’s time to use the clapper” (rather than “if”), but also cautioned: “We are not ready to share the details of our models, as we will need them. To profit from this. or what impact it will have on our linear business “.
In fiscal 2021, which ended October 2 last year, Disney revealed in a SEC filing that ESPN’s traditional customer base had dropped 10% year-over-year to 76 million households. Given the industry’s prospects for at least 5 million pay-TV subscribers to stop service in 2022, cable disconnection remains a major problem for media companies considering starting broadcasting.
In its fiscal second quarter earnings release, Disney painted a rosy picture of the ESPN + streaming service, growing 62% year-over-year and surpassing 22 million subscribers. It averaged $ 4.73 per subscriber per quarter, up 4% from the previous year.
Disney + added nearly 8 million subscribers in the fiscal quarter, up from nearly 20 million in the past six months
While some of Linear ESPN’s programming also runs on ESPN +, the streaming department is still positioned as an additional offering, and hence the price. The company is reluctant to prematurely seize a full bubble with high-end live rights by installing a full bubble, even as competitors like Amazon and Apple are upping their sporting odds.
However, the economic income of streaming is much more uncertain than that of pay TV. ESPN, which was one of the first cable networks to pay delivery charges in the 1980s, set the standard for programmers who worked to raise taxes while collecting significant advertising revenue. This dual stream of income has created one of the most profitable business models in any industry.
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Source: Deadline
Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
