Today The Walt Disney Company shared its second quarter fiscal results during a call that began before the start of stock trading. Hosted by Bob Iger, the results showed that once again Disney’s Experiences segment is driving growth for the company. However, the streaming services were also on track to achieve profitability by the end of the year. In fact, the entertainment portion of Disney’s streaming services already were profitable this last quarter.
As Disney continues to lean into the future with its streaming services. Iger shared that ahead of the arrival of a stand alone ESPN+ streaming platform’s arrival, ESPN will be coming to Disney+. By the end of the year, an ESPN tile will be added to Disney+. This will allow Disney+ subscribers the ability to watch select live game and studio programming within the Disney+ app. This will be available only to United States subscribers.
“We see this as a first step to bringing ESPN to Disney+ viewers as we ready the launch of our enhanced stand-alone ESPN streaming service in the fall of 2025,” he said.
Sports is one of three core businesses for Disney. Upon the return of Bob Iger to the role of CEO, the company was simplified and restructured into three segments. They are Entertainment, Experiences, and ESPN. The addition of ESPN to Disney+ follows the addition of Hulu to the streaming platform earlier this year. It is part of a strategy to increase engagement with subscribers of the service.
“It’s a start in terms of essentially conditioning the audience or subscribers to Disney+ and Hulu to the fact that sports is going to be there and it also will help us in terms of overall engagement with our bundle,” Iger added.
Iger also said that ESPN will “make a pivot toward digital, but without abandoning linear.” This continues the messaging that previously has been shared on this topic. ESPN has long-term deals with college football championships, NCAA championships and the NFL. The NBA is also in the minds of both Disney and subscribers. “We’re confident or optimistic we’re going to end up with an NBA deal that will be long term in our best interest in the best interest of our subscribers,” Iger said.
The addition of ESPN to Disney+ isn’t the only new destination for the sports business of Disney. It also is a part of joint venture that will be launching this fall. This venture teams ESPN with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox to bring combined sporting events from ESPN, ABC, Fox, TNT and TBS to the platform. It is expected to have some NFL games, nearly all MBL, NBA, NHL, and college sports telecasts. It looks to really be a hub for sports programming. The future stand-alone ESPN streaming platform will grow and offer more features than what is offered on the joint venture or Disney+.
What do you think of an ESPN tile being added to Disney+? Do you think it is a good addition? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
