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ESPN Plus streaming service launches this spring for $4.99
As Disney announced its quarterly earnings results today, CEO Bob Iger told CNBC that the company plans to price its standalone streaming version of ESPN at $4.99 per month. We've already heard that ESPN Plus will include "10,000 live regional, national, and international games and events a year" including MLB, NHL and MLS action, and Iger said it will arrive along with a relaunch of the ESPN app this spring. The idea is to reach out to cord-cutters and cord-nevers, hoping they're into some sports you wouldn't catch on its cable broadcasts (other sports will include various college games, Grand Slam Tennis, Boxing, Golf, Rugby and Cricket), plus included access to its library of 30 for 30 documentaries. It will be available "iOS, Android, tvOS and Chromecast" at launch, with other platforms following. As far as the new ESPN app, we should expect even more personalization with the usual relevant scores and highlights next to streaming versions of ESPN's cable broadcasts as well as its podcasts. When it launches, ESPN Plus will only be the beginning of Disney's streaming push, before its Disney-branded service launches in 2019. During the call, Iger said Disney is developing "a few" Star Wars series for the new app, and that it's close to revealing at least one of the projects (separate from the new series of movies announce earlier from Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
Yahoo Sports teams with NBA on live games, AR and more
Verizon isn't just obsessed with football. The carrier has unveiled an expanded partnership with the NBA that will make basketball games and related content available across Yahoo and "other Verizon media platforms." To start, it's making much ado over NBA League Pass. You'll have the option of buying League Pass on sites like Yahoo Sports, and Verizon's "It's On Us" program will let you preview what you'd get without committing to a purchase. There will be additional material for non-subscribers, too.
NBC brings two Winter Olympics preview shows to Netflix
You won't have to stay glued to NBC to watch all of its Winter Olympics coverage -- although it won't necessarily be the coverage you want. The network is offering a two-part PyeongChang preview series, Go For the Gold and Meet Team USA, that will be available on Netflix between January 15th and the end of the Olympics on February 25th. The episodes will explore the American team's athletes and their stories, including well-known competitors like Lindsey Vonn and Shaun White.
Sports Illustrated TV streams movies, shows and more for $5 a month
With Disney kicking off its own competitively-priced streaming content service in 2019, many media brands are jumping on the bandwagon. Tomorrow, Time Inc will launch one of its own: Sports Illustrated TV, which will initially be available only on Amazon Channels. The $5-per-month network will start with 130 hours of content, including studio shows, sports films and Sports Illustrated's lauded documentary series.
BBC to stream 1,000 extra hours of live sport each year
The BBC continues to reduce the amount of public money it spends, it's led to some notable sporting events being cut from its programming. It's already been forced to drop the rights to big-name British golfing tournaments, Formula 1 and perhaps the most prestigious global sporting event of all: the Olympics (although it has since agreed a sub-licencing deal with Discovery-owned Eurosport). Instead, the corporation has focused on sports that it believes are most valuable to licence fee payers, including Wimbledon tennis and Six Nations rugby. Expanding that commitment, the BBC today announced "its biggest increase of live sport in a generation," confirming that will add 1,000 extra hours of live sport to the BBC Sport and iPlayer websites each year.
PlayStation Vue's $10 sports add-on includes NFL RedZone
You already get a healthy dose of sports with a PlayStation Vue subscription, but what if you need more? Sony is happy to help. It just launched a $10 per month Sports Pack that adds 13 channels, including season-specific and regional networks. It's particularly big for football fans: you'll get the game day-focused NFL RedZone and (for college games) ESPN Goal Line. ESPN Bases Loaded provides a college baseball fix during the NCAA championship, ESPN Classic offers on-demand sports and Outside TV caters to the adventurous crowd.
Amazon Prime will replace Twitter to stream Thursday NFL games
Last year Twitter made Thursday Night NFL games a centerpiece of its video streaming/group chat efforts. This year, the NFL is taking its 10-game simulcast package to Amazon Prime, according to reports by Recode, the Wall Street Journal and Variety. While Twitter made the games available for free (alongside the broadcasts on CBS or NFL Network), on Amazon they will be a part of its Prime subscription, just like two-day-shipping, movies, music and other things it offers.
