I guess it's been in the works for a bit now but Disney did announce today officially they are going to have 2 streaming networks - 1 for ESPN which will start up next year (10,000 sporting events a year) and than one in 2019 for its Disney/Marvel programming. Netflix' stock took a bit of a hit today with that latter announcement.

I do wonder if we're going to overload the internet with all the streaming services. It's not going to be as popular if you're replacing your $125 monthly DirecTV bill with a $125 internet bill instead.

(08-08-2017 10:35 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I guess it's been in the works for a bit now but Disney did announce today officially they are going to have 2 streaming networks - 1 for ESPN which will start up next year (10,000 sporting events a year) and than one in 2019 for its Disney/Marvel programming. Netflix' stock took a bit of a hit today with that latter announcement.

I do wonder if we're going to overload the internet with all the streaming services. It's not going to be as popular if you're replacing your $125 monthly DirecTV bill with a $125 internet bill instead.

I think it makes sense for a company as broad as Disney. They have sports, animation, live-action shows, Marvel and Star Wars. How much competition is there? I know there is Netflix and Hulu, I cant think of much other than that.

(08-08-2017 11:20 PM)Doots4Dawgs Wrote:  How much competition is there? I know there is Netflix and Hulu, I cant think of much other than that.

There's also Sling, Playstation Vue, Amazon Prime, and a few networks that have their own streaming subscription services like HBO, Showtime and CBS.

So that means now ESPN3 is a paid service?

(08-08-2017 10:35 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  I guess it's been in the works for a bit now but Disney did announce today officially they are going to have 2 streaming networks - 1 for ESPN which will start up next year (10,000 sporting events a year) and than one in 2019 for its Disney/Marvel programming. Netflix' stock took a bit of a hit today with that latter announcement.

I do wonder if we're going to overload the internet with all the streaming services. It's not going to be as popular if you're replacing your $125 monthly DirecTV bill with a $125 internet bill instead.

People will pick and choose. They will not sign ip for everything and some of these streaming services will lose money.

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(08-09-2017 07:38 AM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  So that means now ESPN3 is a paid service?

ESPN3 has to this point been a hybrid. There are the free games available through the app and then there is the watchESPN content that has always required a subscription through a cable provider or Sling. Now, you can cut the cable company or Sling out of the equation and just pay ESPN directly for access to their content.

(08-09-2017 08:30 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  

(08-09-2017 07:38 AM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  So that means now ESPN3 is a paid service?

ESPN3 has to this point been a hybrid. There are the free games available through the app and then there is the watchESPN content that has always required a subscription through a cable provider or Sling. Now, you can cut the cable company or Sling out of the equation and just pay ESPN directly for access to their content.

Main thing is the contract model is over. Question is how Disney intends to implement this and at what price point. If it's a money grab I can see folks paying for just the football season and cancelling. Right now I have Sling year round primarily for ESPN. So if they try and get $24.99 a month just for ESPN they may be shooting themselves in the foot especially if certain mid major conferences start moving towards other platforms.

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(08-09-2017 07:38 AM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  So that means now ESPN3 is a paid service?

It appears they will set this up in a way similar to what already exists except there will be the addition of being able to subscribe to ESPN content via streaming only option similar to what you can do with CBS or HBO.

So, if you have a cable provider and are already paying for that service you will validate your credentials via your cable provider and be able to stream ESPN content as you do now.

The difference comes in the ability to subscribe to ESPN content outside of having a cable subscription. Perhaps a more pertinent question at this point is will Disney pull the ability to access ESPN content from providers like Hulu and Youtube? They have already announced they are pulling Disney content from Netflix beginning in 2019 and that it will only be available through its own Disney streaming service.

(08-09-2017 08:36 AM)panama Wrote:  

(08-09-2017 08:30 AM)ODUDrunkard13 Wrote:  

(08-09-2017 07:38 AM)WKUFan518 Wrote:  So that means now ESPN3 is a paid service?

ESPN3 has to this point been a hybrid. There are the free games available through the app and then there is the watchESPN content that has always required a subscription through a cable provider or Sling. Now, you can cut the cable company or Sling out of the equation and just pay ESPN directly for access to their content.

Main thing is the contract model is over. Question is how Disney intends to implement this and at what price point. If it's a money grab I can see folks paying for just the football season and cancelling. Right now I have Sling year round primarily for ESPN. So if they try and get $24.99 a month just for ESPN they may be shooting themselves in the foot especially if certain mid major conferences start moving towards other platforms.

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Per my post above, I seriously doubt Disney is going to let other streaming services have ESPN content unless they are getting better value out of it than they are already getting through cable or that they will get through their own streaming service.

When the dust settles, we are all going to end up paying the same amount we paid for cable, but for less content, spread across a dozen or more apps.

But for now, some people will claim victory.