While new Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro has reportedly decided against spinning off ESPN for now, that doesn’t mean the company’s thinking might not shift over the next six to nine months, sources told SBJ. D’Amaro was in Bristol last week meeting with ESPN execs in one of his first high-level meetings with network brass, sources noted.
Some industry insiders have suggested ESPN could be an option for Disney to license in the emerging “channels” business, in which an OTT platform’s subs can subscribe to a streaming service directly through that platform (for instance, subscribing to Paramount+ through your Prime Video or Apple TV account). But sources noted Disney’s position on that has not changed and there are no plans to license ESPN, NFL Network or other Disney-owned channels to competitors (Austin Karp, SBJ).
BUSINESS INSIDER’s Peter Kafka was the first to cite sources as saying that Disney has decided against spinning off ESPN. It was “one of the first major calls” for D’Amaro. The question of whether Disney would turn ESPN into a stand-alone company has “hung over the company for years, as some investors and analysts argued that the declining cable business was a drag on the larger company’s value.” But sources said that Disney thinks ESPN’s “presence will help its pivot to streaming.” Kafka notes that Disney will “continue with efforts to offer ESPN to customers in multiple ways,” as part of its traditional cable bundle, as part of a streaming bundle with Hulu and Disney+, and as a streaming service. It may also “look for other partners to take minority interests in the company,” as it did when it sold a 10% stake in the company to the NFL last year (BUSINESS INSIDER, 4/28).
