Blog: ESPN+ - Page 2

Read our latest daily deep dives, hot takes, and exciting updates about the entertainment world. Check out the latest insight from your favourite analyst, or search by coverage areas - music, entertainment and fandom, creator economy and social.

Heavyweight Battle for Premium Sporting Rights Dependent on Three Factors

Cover image for Heavyweight Battle for Premium Sporting Rights Dependent on Three Factors

Alistair Taylor

3 Jun 2019

broadcast rights

The sports rights landscape has changed fundamentally with the emergence of streaming subscription video on demand (SVOD) services. Digital and broadcast rights used to be separate deals entirely, but now the lines are blurred, and competition is heating up for exclusive coverage of the most sought-after sporting rights.

min read

Sports SVOD Services: The Underdogs’ Game

Hanna Kahlert

29 May 2019

addressable audience

carriage partnerships

Cord cutting and “the attention economy” are the landscaping trends reshaping everything video in 2019, and sports television – despite its reliably existent fanbase – is no exception. New sports proposition streaming video on demand (SVOD) entrants face hefty competition on all sides, from regionally established SVOD services with more varied offerings to tech majors waiting in the wings to buy up the biggest rights before moving onto the scene.

min read

Mediapro Offers Eleven Sports a UK Lifeline!

Alistair Taylor

21 Mar 2019

ad-supported model

carriage partnerships

Streaming service Eleven Sports will now have to table a new offer to maintain its UK La Liga rights, as Mediapro (the agency selling La Liga’s international rights) decides to return La Liga to the UK media rights tender market ahead of the 2019/2022 season.

min read

Fail Fast, Fail Early – Can Eleven’s UK Struggle Aid Future Growth?

Alistair Taylor

21 Feb 2019

Amazon Fire Stick

Eleven Sports announced last week it had successfully agreed long-term distribution agreements with all four TV operators in Portugal – Altice, NOS, Nowo and Vodafone. Achieving this agreement puts Eleven Sports on TV platforms across 3.

min read

Will An EPL Streaming Service Devalue Domestic Rights?

Alistair Taylor

15 Feb 2019

addressable audience

Following the English Premier League (EPL) announcing in November its plans to launch its own streaming service for the next rights cycle (2022-2025), the Sunday Times reported that the EPL is coming close to launching.

min read

ESPN+ leverages UFC appeal to double subscriber base to 2 million in five months

Alistair Taylor

8 Feb 2019

direct-to-consumer

Disney announced in its Q1 earnings call on Tuesday that its sports-centric streaming service ESPN+ had surpassed two million subscribers, doubling its subscriber base in less than five months. Launched in April 2018 , Disney revealed in September 2018 that it had taken less than five months to surpass one million subscribers .

min read

UFC’s Debut on ESPN+ Draws In Record Subs

Alistair Taylor

24 Jan 2019

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) debuted on ESPN+ this past weekend, featuring the highly touted championship fight, which saw Henry Cejudo knockout current Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw in just 32 seconds to retain his Flyweight title.

min read

Disney Q3 Earnings: The Painful Transition To Direct-To-Consumer

Tim Mulligan

8 Aug 2018

Yesterday a besieged Bob Iger, chairman and CEO of Walt Disney Co. had to defend his company’s Q3 (calendar Q2) results against the inflated demands of Wall Street. Disney has come out with a bold strategy to compete directly with subscription video on demand (SVOD) services, with the announcement of its intent to launch a direct-to-consumer Disney originals content proposition in 2019, alongside the launch of streaming sports service ESPN+ in April 2018 .

min read

Eleven’s Challenge With Commercialising Newly Acquired Sports Rights

Tim Mulligan

7 Aug 2018

English Premier League

Sports entertainment disruptor Eleven Sports has been making headway over the previous 12 months with a series of notable acquisitions of premium sports rights in non-premium markets. Eleven’s business model involves building a next-generation direct-to-consumer proposition through a contract-free on-demand sports streaming service.

min read

Can Eleven Sports Disrupt the UK Sports Video Landscape?

Alistair Taylor

19 Jul 2018

Eleven Sports is a global sports content provider intent on global expansion. Already established in Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan and the US. Eleven is systematically acquiring new rights to increase its value proposition before launching local channels into new target markets.

min read

Is the UFC doing a Fox, and cashing in on content?

Alistair Taylor

31 May 2018

content provider

digital content

Last week, Disney-owned ESPN acquired the exclusive rights to show the UFC tournament in the US for $1.5 billion over five years. The deal will see the UFC earn $184 million more each year than the previous deal with Fox, which begs the question; is the UFC mimicking Fox’s strategy and cashing in on its content? While Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG), which purchased the UFC for $4 billion in 2016, was seeking in the region of $450 million per year, UFC president Dana White is ecstatic with the new deal, telling MMAJunkie: “Our last deal was $116 million a year.

min read

Why Amazon could become the ESPN of future E-sports coverage

Cover image for Why Amazon could become the ESPN of future E-sports coverage

Tim Mulligan

16 May 2018

Last month’s NBA 2K partnership announcement between Take Two Interactive (the publisher for the NBA 2K video game) and Twitch to livestream all the new NBA 2K league on its platform was yet another milestone in the rise of e-sports as a content destination in its own right.

min read

Disney Q2 Earnings: The Warnings Lights Are Flashing

Tim Mulligan

9 May 2018

Yesterday’s Q2 Earning Results from the Walt Disney Company pleased Wall Street by beating earnings estimates. However, a closer look at the financials reveals why Disney’s much heralded pivot to subscription video on demand (SVOD) is a strategic imperative for the longevity of the media conglomerate.

min read

Is ESPN+ The Shape Of Future Video Sports Coverage?

Cover image for Is ESPN+ The Shape Of Future Video Sports Coverage?

Tim Mulligan

6 Apr 2018

On 12 April Disney will launch ESPN+ into an increasingly competitive market. The move forms part of Disney’s stated aim to reach consumers directly, following on from the creation of a dedicated direct-to-consumer and international business unit established last month.

min read

Traditional Pay-TV Squeezes More Revenue Out of a Declining Asset

Cover image for Traditional Pay-TV Squeezes More Revenue Out of a Declining Asset

Tim Mulligan

10 Jan 2018

ESPN’s announcement last week about the latest Nielsen ratings showing that this season’s NFL coverage had seen viewing figures decline 9.7 from the 2016 season was startling enough. The follow up revelation that ad revenue had actually increased slightly by 2% over the same period, from $504 million in 2016 to $513 million last year, was a stark reminder of the pay-TV incumbent strategy to increase margins.

min read

YouTube Flicks The On Switch With YouTube TV

Tim Mulligan

2 Mar 2017

Tuesday, February 28th could be looked back on as the day when everything changed for the pay TV industry in the US. This was the day when one of the tech majors decided to announce to the world that it was getting into streaming pay-TV in a big way.

min read

MIDiA Research Predictions 2017: The Year Of The Platform

Mark Mulligan

13 Dec 2016

Access Industries

Following an 84% success rate for our 2016 Predictions report, we today launch our 2017 predictions report: ‘ MIDiA Research Predictions 2017: The Year Of The Platform’. The report is immediately available to all MIDiA subscription clients and can also be purchased for individual download from our report store here.

min read

Disney and Netflix: A Full-Stack Media Dream

Zach Fuller

7 Oct 2016

Previously linked as being one of many suitors for Twitter, Disney additionally emerged this week as a rumoured buyer for video giant Netflix. Only last month, Disney CEO Bob Iger declared his company had ‘cracked the code for keeping moviemaking profitable’, but through this triumphalist narrative, these are uncertain times for content monetisation, especially as ad-dollars both migrate from television or in some cases are blocked completely.

min read

The Birth of The ESPN For Video Games?

Tim Mulligan

5 Jan 2016

Activision Blizzard

Amidst all the Pay TV industry angst around ESPN, Disney’s troubled Sports-Network, a new venture has appeared which specifically aims to replicate ESPN’s business model. Activision Blizzard, the gaming publisher behind the hugely successful Call Of Duty video game is now looking to get into Pay-TV.

min read

Disney At The End of 2015: A Tale Of Two Brands

Tim Mulligan

23 Dec 2015

Friday’s downgrade of Disney stock by BTIG analyst Richard Greenfield to a sell rating was based upon the current travails of its Sports broadcasting flagship ESPN. This resulted in a 4% decline in Disney’s share price.

min read

‹
1
2

Showing 21 to 40 of 40 results.