Disney's Streaming Future Begins With Modest ESPN+ Launch
Summary
At launch, ESPN+ has the rights to offer some 10,000 live events, and ESPN dealmakers are hard at work negotiating for more competitions to add to the service as the weeks go on. Sure, there wont be Monday Night Football in the fall or spring NBA match-ups, but at $5 a month, Pitaro contends that ESPN+ is a good deal given its lineup. "While complementary to the main ESPN channel, we do expect [ESPN+] to get broad resonance in the marketplace," Kevin Mayer, the chairman of Disneys newly established Direct to Consumer and International division, told reporters on Tuesday. He did not offer projections on how many subscribers Disney expects ESPN+ to amass but acknowledged that the size of the membership base is "how we will measure the success" of the service. Mayer also signaled Disneys commitment to growing the digital business, explaining that the company will be in investment mode on the service for an unspecified number of years.