Jimmy Pitaro was on CNBC on Friday, and he fielded the inevitable question about a potential ESPN spin-off under incoming Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro — one he’s gotten often since taking over eight years ago. After discussing the brand’s synergies across the Disney ecosystem, Pitaro quite simply said, “I believe that ESPN is a big part of the Walt Disney Co.’s strategy and future.”
Analysts all over Wall Street have restarted chatter about an ESPN spin-off since D’Amaro became Bob Iger’s successor. The $30 billion ESPN valuation given as part of the NFL equity deal closing also provided fuel for the fire. But spinning off ESPN would be incredibly complicated. ABC may have to be part of any deal to make things work, and moving a broadcast TV network is no easy feat.
But maybe there’s a different solution: Perhaps Disney finally decides to license ESPN networks to competitors and the growing channels business (something Disney hasn’t done yet). Imagine a visible ESPN tile/area on Amazon Prime Video, or within Apple TV or DAZN. The channels business has proven to be a subscriber growth engine for outlets like Paramount+, so why not ESPN? And Disney has already shown a willingness to work with competitors like Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery on bundles. This could be a next step in that evolution.
As Pitaro also told CNBC, “ESPN is in the bundling business.”
NBC is still finding a sizeable part of its Olympic audience watching events live in afternoon windows. PA Images via Getty Images
Viewership for the Milan Cortina Olympics is up big from Beijing four years ago. Not only are the time zones a little better for U.S. audiences, but NBC is once again deploying a strategy of combining “Milan Primetime” numbers (2-5pm ET) with the traditional focus of U.S. viewers, which is that 8-11pm ET prime-time window. It was a strategy first deployed during Paris two years ago.
Given that NBC Sports now shows all events live, the move makes sense — and advertisers certainly seem to be on board with the reporting.
But I wanted to see if the share of audience seen in “Paris Primetime” (2-5pm ET) was reflected in what we’re seeing in “Milan Primetime.” The short answer: It’s essentially the same breakdown, meaning a good chunk of viewers are finding live events on NBC/USA/Peacock in those afternoon windows.
Over the first seven days of Milan, the afternoon windows have averaged around 39% of NBC Sports’ reported total audience delivery numbers. During Paris four years ago, over the same seven days, those afternoon windows averaged around 41% of the audience.
The biggest portion of the Milan audience watching live came on Day 1 (Feb. 7), as 47% of NBC’s audience that day came in the 2-5pm window. That was also the same percentage that watched Day 1 in the afternoon window in Paris two years ago.
The percentage of audience watching Milan in the afternoon window has subsided a little since that opening weekend, with no reported window yet crossing 40%. Paris had a short drop like that as well, but then it had a number of times in Week 2 when half of the audience (or more) were watching the afternoon window.
One particular area where the afternoon window is going to help NBC is with Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game. Sources tell SBJ that the network’s Olympic coverage was averaging around 10 million viewers in the quarter-hour before the NBA telecast started, and the NBA was able to hold a good chunk of that last quarter-hour. And that wasn’t even where the NBA peaked, as that was closer to two hours into the All-Star Game broadcast.
DAZN this week is beginning to engage directly with the 13 NBA and seven NHL teams on local rights. Getty Images
DAZN this week is beginning to engage directly with the 13 NBA and seven NHL teams that are part of Main Street Sports Group about whether there is a path toward local media rights deals in the future, sources tell SBJ.
My colleague Tom Friend reported earlier today that Main Street has initiated its legal pathway to a winddown on Friday, meaning those NHL and NBA teams, like the MLB teams that just left, would need homes for next season and beyond.
DAZN was in talks with Main Street about investing in the complete company, but that broader deal never materialized. DAZN still sees these local rights as a strong way to dig deeper into the U.S. sports market. The company already has international league-level relationships with both the NBA and NHL. It operates NHL TV globally, while broadcasting the NBA in markets such as Spain, Belgium and Germany. DAZN also operates NFL Game Pass outside the U.S. and airs most of ESPN’s college sports programming outside the U.S. through an ESPN sublicense.
There has also been outreach to those leagues’ media operators about DAZN’s planned talks, with the NBA’s Bill Koenig and NHL’s David Proper being kept in the loop, sources said. It’s been noted that the NHL and NBA — like MLB — likely will pursue a path of rolled-up regional rights, and the sources pointed out that DAZN would like to be involved in those types of future league conversations.
DAZN has hired Range Sports Media Advisory to engage with the NBA and NHL teams on potential rights acquisitions. David Sternberg will lead Range’s talks.
DAZN has no minimum threshold of teams it seeks to acquire as it begins talks, and the configuration of potential packages would likely reflect many seen in the market, with a mix of streaming and local over-the-air components. Sources said DAZN is confident in its product and what it feels it can offer teams in the long term beyond just streaming, such as analytics, ticketing data, stats and scores.
Yankees games on YES last season saw a 93% viewership lift when looking at the 11 markets just beyond the N.Y. designated market area. Getty Images
Yankees games on YES Network last season saw a 93% viewership lift when looking at the 11 markets just beyond the N.Y. designated market area. Games averaged 256,000 viewers on YES just in N.Y., but that number goes to 493,000 when other markets from around New York and in Connecticut, Vermont and Pennsylvania are included. The best of them is Syracuse, followed by Utica, Rochester and Binghamton. Looking back at the 2023 season, that 12-market lift was just 71% with a total viewership draw of 486,000 viewers.
The Capitals and Wizards aren’t having the best season in the standings, but Monumental+ has grown its direct-to-consumer subscribers by 256% compared to last season. After 50+ games for both the Caps and Wizards, both are also seeing a triple-digit percentage increase in unique streaming viewership on the app, per internal data from ViewLift, which powers the service. (Editor’s note: SBJ and Monumental are partners on a monthly TV show, “SBJ: Inside the Industry,” that airs on Monumental Sports Network.)
Duke is the most-watched men’s college hoops team this season to date, followed by Michigan State and North Carolina, per Nielsen. Arkansas and Kentucky round out the top five. Among the top 10, the Big Ten has four schools, while the SEC has three. On the women’s side, Ohio State has moved into the No. 1 spot this season, followed by Tennessee, Iowa, South Carolina and Texas. Across the top 10, the SEC has five spots, while the Big Ten has four.
Some final stats from ESPN’s coverage around Super Bowl LX. There were 908 million video views and 55 million engagements around the game itself between ESPN’s social feeds, YouTube page and influencer Katie Feeney’s feeds. Feeney alone generated 85 million video views and nearly 5 million engagements across platforms from her Super Bowl week coverage. ESPN’s Super Bowl LXI logo reveal last Wednesday drew 45.3 million video views and 4.24 million engagements. The TikTok around the reveal was ESPN Social’s most-engaged post from any of its official brand accounts year-to-date.
SBJ special contributor Richard Deitsch joins this week's SBJ Sports Media Podcast. SBJ
SBJ contributor Richard Deitsch joins me on the latest SBJ Sports Media Podcast, and we banter about Super Bowl viewership, NFL media rights, the Winter Olympics and more.
Deitsch profiles NBC Sports President Rick Cordella in this week’s magazine, with one eye on his “entrepreneurial” leadership and another on how he’s looking at the future of media rights and his network, such as preparations for what feels like an inevitability — the NFL opening up discussions for its media rights deal.
Another league is looking at its media future is MLB, but in this case, writes SBJ’s Mike Mazzeo, it’s about providing a solution for teams struggling in the aftermath of the collapse of the RSN system.
In this week’s magazine, SBJ’s Alex Silverman details the changes in the MLS-Apple relationship, including how the league will soon be on the clock for when the media rights pact expires.
Silverman also writes that PWHL EVP/Business Operations Amy Scheer remains determined to find a rights deal the women’s hockey league would “feel comfortable with and values our league properly.” That’s an uphill climb for the PWHL in a tough rights environment.
The CW said it is tracking ahead of last year’s NASCAR ad sales after the first year of its seven-year, $115 million media rights deal, reports SBJ’s Adam Stern.
ESPN, Disney and the NFL are moving beyond “The Handoff” to offer a yearlong marketing initiative being dubbed “Year of the Super Bowl” ahead of the first ESPN-produced Big Game in February 2027.
The post-holiday season had many folks staying home in January, as TV viewing in the U.S. climbed to a 12-month high, with ESPN alone seeing an 82% month-over-month uptick.
Jalen Rose is working with Pistons owner Tom Gores to launch Same Page Entertainment, a Detroit-based multimedia production company, notes SBJ’s Irving Mejia-Hilario.
