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In addition, Max, Peacock, and Paramount+ have doubled down on sports rights, while ESPN is pivoting from a cable network to a D2C streaming service. All this is driving a surge in CTV ad spending, especially since live sports content commands loyal viewership and high ad rates. What does this mean for marketers, media companies, and distributors? The TV ship has sailed.

As that process plays out and legacy broadcast channels like ESPN move from the cable and satellite ecosystem to a D2C streaming model, sports fans will ditch their cable bundles for streaming services. That migration of viewership could be the final blow for the legacy pay TV business, which in recent years has been held together by live sports. The future of streaming media is ad-supported.

And Jeremy notes that Disney's ABC and ESPN will continue to host the NBA finals and Christmas Day games. NBCU gets opening night games and a new Sunday night primetime slot, and also the all-star game. And Amazon gets the play-in tournament and will help with the NBA League Pass, and then there's a bunch of games divvied up amongst them.

But it also focused its remaining ad spend on sports programming, commanding 23% of insurance ad impressions on ESPN. By contrast, Progressive鈥檚 ad spending stayed well above its competitors鈥�, and it rose to become the most-seen insurance brand on TV over this time鈥攊ncreasing its share of ad impressions to 22.36%. Next steps: We expect insurers鈥� advertising spend to rise throughout 2024.

This collaboration aims to offer a subscription-based "skinny" bundle of sports channels, including ESPN, Fox Sports, and Warner Bros. Discovery networks, alongside ESPN+. The service is set to launch in the fall of 2024, with an additional option to bundle Disney+, Hulu, and Max.

They include adding an ESPN content tile within the Disney+ platform by late 2024 and plans the launch of standalone ESPN streaming service in 2025. Moreover, Disney CEO Bob Iger revealed that the company would start enforcing measures against password sharing starting in June, following a model similar to Netflix.

ESPN, Amazon, and Warner Bros. Discovery are negotiating for NBA streaming rights. Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Disney are planning a joint sports venture to compete with Amazon, which has Thursday Night Football, even as smaller streamers like Fubo ask regulators to probe the plans. Netflix is about to become the home of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

Disney will attract major attention at Upfronts: Ad-supported subscribers surpassed 157 million, giving it a leg up over the competition.

This year, streaming services will finally earn more than traditional TV in subscription revenues.

These include ongoing negotiations with Comcast to broadcast games for 12 teams through Diamond Sports and the looming decision by ESPN on whether to continue its $550 million annual contract for key MLB broadcasts.

McAfee's transition to ESPN further underlines Disney's push for more sports-oriented content, which builds on returning CEO Bob Iger鈥檚 February move to turn ESPN into one of the company鈥檚 three operating units, alongside Disney Parks and Disney Entertainment. ESPN+ continues to grow at a healthy clip (+27.1% year over year).

And the fact that you don't know that yet and you don't know how it's going to differentiate between the upcoming app ESPN is going to have, there's a lot of question marks for a service that's supposed to be launching within the next 60 to 90 days. Wouldn't be surprised if it gets pushed out to launch somewhere six months from now. Marcus Johnson (13:50):. I Nike's generous too.

But ESPN Bet and Fanatics are both poised to enter the market with strong branding and reach, which will increase the pressure on incumbents.

Not even the networks want in on this one鈥擜pple and Amazon join ESPN, CBS, NBC, and Fox in brushing aside a deal, per The Wall Street Journal. ESPN, NBC, and CBS have existing deals with PGA Golf that they may not want to sour鈥攅specially since the PGA is in conflict with LIV.

The joint sports offering between ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox would also combine multiple offerings. These platforms need to find other ways to stand out beyond exclusivity. Look for streamers that offer the best first-party data.

Brand power: Don鈥檛 forget that ESPN could also roll up into this Disney+-Hulu mashup. Will that dilute the brands? It鈥檚 testing the waters by adding some not-so-kid-friendly Marvel content. 鈥淐an they have content that is less Disneyish on a platform that's called 鈥楧isney?鈥欌�� Goldman asked.

Consumers have repeatedly expressed interest in bundles, especially as streaming prices rise, and Disney鈥檚 vast portfolio that includes Disney+, ESPN, ABC, and more could result in a high-value bundle that would disrupt the streaming landscape.

ESPN takes a shot at creating a sports streaming hub. Yes, Super Bowl ads are expensive, but compared to what? 鈥楳ake noise鈥�: How Tubi鈥檚 disruptive Super Bowl ad happened. Yesterday鈥檚 Chart of the Day: Temu takes the shine off Shein.

Ross says ESPN Sportsbook. Zak says ESPN Betting, and Stephanie is the only one who's correct with ESPN Bet. ESPN Bet is the name that they have chosen. They will be promoting on regular ESPN broadcasts and could possibly see integration with streaming service ESPN+ as well. Folks, any thoughts on this move or just the incredibly fast evolution of sports betting in the US? Stephanie Taglianetti:.

But in reality, one of the things that makes this a big milestone is that this would be the first time that a major US league sports package is essentially a streaming deal because we're talking about ESPN, peacock and Amazon as the leading players here. I think this is also milestone because it's going to open the way for more of the kind of digital bundling we've seen.

It had been in contact with several media companies, including Amazon, Apple, and ESPN. Apple looked likely to be the winner, but talks stalled recently. Why it matters: YouTube TV winning Sunday Ticket over Apple is a major coup for Google. The service, which surpassed five million users in July, could see a rapid increase in demand.

With most of the US already watching, growth in overall OTT viewership has slowed to a crawl. But some platforms, formats, and service tiers are still booming, and digital pay TV is complicating the linear TV narrative.