We’ve heard for a few weeks that the folks over at ESPN, FOX, and Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and working on rolling out some form of live TV streaming service that is dedicated for live sports watching across those entities’ sports channels.
The Hollywood Reporter has stated that Pete Distad has been named the CEO of the project between ESPN, FOX, and WBD.
“Pete Distad, a veteran of both Apple and Hulu, has been hired to be CEO of the new joint venture, which is hoping to launch its service later this year. The companies announced Distad’s hire Friday morning…Distad most recently worked at Apple, where he led business, operations and global distribution for Video, Sports and Apple TV+.”
Distad said this about being a part of this venture.
“This is an incredible opportunity to build and grow a differentiated product that will serve passionate sports fans in the US outside of the traditional pay TV bundle,” he said. “I’m excited to be able to pull together the industry-leading sports content portfolios from these three companies to deliver a new best-in-class service.”
Before working for Apple and on Apple TV+, he worked for Hulu.
ESPN did put out a press release as well regarding the hire. In it, it includes some of the plans for the streaming service.
It is said to be launching this fall and have the following channels, “By subscribing to this focused, all-in-one premier sports service, fans would have access to the linear sports networks including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SECN, ACCN, ESPNEWS, ABC, FOX, FS1, FS2, BTN, TNT, TBS, truTV, as well as ESPN+.”
With this streaming service containing all of those channels, it does go after live TV streaming services such as YouTube TV, Hulu with Live TV, and fuboTV, along with Sling TV, which have been known to be hubs for sports fans.
The streaming service does not have an official name or released starting price, but we can assume that information will be released as we get closer to the launch date.
But having the service launch during the fall, it would be right when college football season starts, along with NFL and NBA games, as well as other major sporting events like F1, NASCAR races, and NHL games.
CNBC has reported that the service could cost around $40 or more per month.
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