The Walt Disney Co. filed its annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday, and among the disclosures sprinkled throughout the 112-page document are updates on how ESPN is faring on the subscriber retention front, as well as the practice and the long-term costs of maintaining your live sports portfolio.
The 10-K filing revealed that ESPN has lost roughly 10 million subscribers over the past two years, bringing its global reach to 74 million cable/satellite/TV households. While this represents a 12% loss of ESPN’s linear TV base, the network’s declines are not as severe as the losses on the distribution side, as operators saw 12.6 million pay TV subscribers were dropped during the same 24-month period. .
According to Leichtman Research Group estimates, the number of bundled TV homes has fallen from 76 million to 63.4 million since the third quarter of 2020, representing a 17% loss of all traditional TV subscribers of payment
ESPN has, in some ways, made up for losses on the cable front with a strong increase in direct-to-consumer subscribers, as streaming service ESPN+ had 24.3 million subscribers last month. That’s good for a 42% improvement over the year-ago figure (17.1 million subscribers) and a 136% jump compared to the October 2020 figure (10.3 million).
Assuming there are very few sports fans duplicating ESPN content by keeping a traditional cable subscription alongside an ESPN+ account, the network’s total base is now around 98.3 million TV customers and DTC. As it happens, that number is just shy of the 99 million households that ESPN reached 10 years ago; discounting the gains made on the DTC front, the network’s TV base has shrunk by 25% in the past decade.
As much as analysts tend to obsess over the DTC business, the traditional pay TV model remains in the driver’s seat as Disney’s linear networks generated $8.52 billion in operating income for the year fiscal which has just ended. By comparison, the DTC segment lost $4.02 billion over the same 12-month period, of which $1.56 billion was allocated to “ESPN+ and others.” (The latter number is higher than a loss of $1.12 billion in fiscal year 2021.)
According to 10K’s filing, ESPN+ now averages $4.80 per sub per month, up 5% from $4.57 a year ago. That’s about half of what the flagship company generates through affiliate fees it charges cable operators.
Disney’s reported sub counts are based on Nielsen data. The company uses third-party estimates from SNL Kagan to derive secondary counts for its handful of channels that Nielsen doesn’t measure; among these are SEC Network (55 million subscribers, down 11% from 2020) and ACC Network (50 million, up 19% from 42 million in 2021). The ACC channel was launched in August 2019; as such, it has yet to reach, but is rapidly approaching, its likely distribution ceiling.
While mouse watchers speculate about the impact the recently reinstated Bob Iger will have on Disney’s sports division, it’s clear that the returning CEO only has so much room to take cost-cutting measures in the content side of the ledger. Disney is locked into tens of billions of dollars in non-cancellable sports programming commitments, with $10.8 billion in rights fees due in 2023 and another $9.91 billion due the following year.
Over the next five years, Disney will pay $44.9 billion in rights fees, a list of obligations that includes its new Monday Night Football contract, as well as a slew of top-tier properties ranging from the package of ‘NBA to a blockbuster. SEC update to go live in 2024. Carrier fees will go a long way toward defraying those expenses, with parent ESPN alone on pace to generate more than $8.1 billion in affiliate revenue next year.
While other rights holders don’t pay as much for sports as Disney does, not all investments are created equal. For example, Sinclair Broadcasting’s Diamond Sports division this week reported that it will pay $1.92 billion next year (of which an estimated 62% goes to its MLB partners) in rights fees to maintain content streaming on Bally Sports RSNs. RSNs remain in a life and death struggle; in the third quarter, Diamond Sports reported an operating loss of $1.11 billion.
Speaking of baseball, Disney reported that it has acquired MLB’s 15% stake in BAMTech for $900 million. The 22-year-old tech company, which has been renamed “Streaming Disney” since its purchase this month, serves as the backbone of Disney’s streaming operations and has an implied value of about $6 billion .
Disney took the NHL’s 10 percent stake in BAMTech last summer, paying $350 million for the league’s minority stake. News of the company’s eventual purchase was buried in the fine print on page 84 of the 10-K, in a subsection titled “Redeemable Noncontrolling Interests.”
Who are ESPN competitors?
What kind of sports does ESPN have? Plus major US sports (NFL, MLB, NBA, NASCAR, IRL, all Grand Slam golf and tennis events) and major international sports (UEFA Champions League and other soccer, cricket and more) , there are 11 local versions of SportsCenter in three languages: Spanish, Portuguese and English.
How much does ESPN pay for licensing?
700 million dollars per year for 8 years. Total: $5.6 billion.
How much do ESPN hosts make?
Average ESPN Host/Hostess hourly pay in the United States is approximately $125, which is 887% above the national average. Read also : Trinity Thomas travels to LA for the 2022 Honda Sports Awards. Salary information comes from 4 data points collected directly from current and past Indeed employees, users, and job postings over the past 36 months.
Who is the highest paid sports broadcaster? The 7 highest paid sports broadcasters
- Mike Tirico. 1 of 7. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images. …
- Jim Nantz. 2 of 7. Tom Pennington/Getty Images. In early April, Jim Nantz becomes the preeminent voice on the sports calendar. …
- Kirk Herbstreit. 5 of 7. Dan Sanger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images. Diversify, diversify, diversify.
How much do ESPN SportsCenter hosts make?
ESPN’s average hourly wage ranges from approximately $9. See the article : Russia, US clash at UN over arms to Ukraine.00 per hour for Brand Ambassador to $125 per hour for Host/Hostess.
Who is the highest paid anchor at ESPN?
Stephen A. Smith is more of an entertainer than a sports reporter. A very successful one. Read also : High 5 Sports recap – week five. At $12 million a year, he is ESPN’s highest-paid on-air employee.
How much do ESPN commentators get paid?
How much does an ESPN sports analyst make? As of November 23, 2022, the median annual salary for an ESPN sports analyst in the United States is $59,828 per year.
How much is ESPN Plus on Roku?
To subscribe to ESPN Plus only, click the “Subscribe to ESPN+ Only” link. This will get you a subscription to ESPN+ for $5.99/month. or $49.99/year.
Is ESPN+ free on Roku? The ESPN app is free to download on Roku. You can watch news, sports information and highlights for free, but you’ll need to sign in with a TV provider to stream ESPN content. You can also sign up for a live streaming service that includes ESPN channels, such as fuboTV, and watch ESPN on Roku using their app.
How much is ESPN+ on Roku?
When you sign up for ESPN at $6.99/month or $70/year, you get tons of exclusive live content from UFC, MLB, MLS, NHL, college and international sports, and more.
How can I get ESPN+ for free?
The short answer is that there is no free ESPN trial right now. This is in contrast to most streaming services, which typically offer a trial period (Hulu’s 30-day free trial is one of the best) or a reduced free streaming plan like those offered by Sling TV and Peacock.
What is the cheapest way to get ESPN Plus?
The cheapest way to stream ESPN is with Sling TV. Order Sling Orange for $40 a month and get ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN3 among 30 channels.
