It seems that ESPN’s over-the-top streaming service, ESPN+, is catching on. Today, Disney’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment announced that the platform had reached 1 million subscribers since launching in April.
- ESPN+ debuted earlier this year, offering sports fans access to more live events, specialty programming, and the entire 30 for 30 film library for $4.99 a month (or $49.99 for a year).
- Now the network says the platform has over one million paid subscribers.
- While Disney has previously stated that they were impressed by how ESPN+ was performing, this is the first time they’ve released actual subscriber figures.
- The news of ESPN+’s success so far is especially encouraging for the company as they look to launch a Disney-branded streaming service next year.
- FYI, for more on ESPN+ and its upcoming content, you can check out our Disney Streaming Services page.
What they’re saying
- Kevin Mayer, chairman, Direct-to-Consumer and International, The Walt Disney Company: “Reaching one million paid subscribers is an important milestone for any video subscription service, but reaching this benchmark in such a short amount of time is an incredible testament to the teams from DTCI and ESPN who have worked tirelessly to bring this product to market and continually improve it since our April launch. We’re thrilled so many sports fans have quickly come to love the service. The future is bright and we believe growth will continue as we add features, distribution partners and more exclusive content in the coming months.”
- Jimmy Pitaro, President of ESPN and co-Chair, Disney Media Networks: “Combining sports, technology and the ESPN brand is a very powerful combination, and we are just getting started. Very quickly, a wide range of sports fans have seen the value of ESPN+. With high quality programming and an outstanding user experience, ESPN and DTCI are expanding the ways Disney is serving sports fans.”