Thursday, July 30, 2015

Disney is toying with selling ESPN as a standalone service like HBO Now



Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC’s Squawk Box this morning that ESPN and the company’s other properties might eventually be sold a la carte, but not likely within the next five years.

“Technology is the most disruptive force that so-called traditional media […] is facing,” Iger said. “[But] while the business model may face challenges over the next few years, long term for ESPN […] they’ll be fine.”


Iger said discussion of such a service’s cost “would be conjecture at this point.” Given the amount of administrative and contractual overhead involved in ESPN’s many pots, though, it wouldn’t be cheap. Industry analyst Michael Nathanson projects that in order for the network to maintain its current profit margin, Disney would have to charge at least $36.30 for an a la carte ESPN bundle. By comparison, HBO Now starts at $15 a month

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