ESPN launched a direct-to-consumer streaming service called ESPN on August 21, offering the network's full range of content. The service costs around $30 a month and targets the "60 million-plus households" not accessing ESPN through traditional means. ESPN has lost more than 25 million cable subscribers over the past decade, cutting into roughly $10 per-subscriber monthly carriage fees. James "Jimmy" Pitaro has led ESPN for more than seven years and is steering the DTC push. Discussions around the service included Pitaro's relationship with Disney CEO Bob Iger, the growing importance of gambling to ESPN's business, and plans to fit NFL Network and RedZone into an expanded portfolio.
The various pricing and bundling subtleties would take too long to describe here, but the direct-to-consumer version of ESPN costs around $30 a month and is mainly targeted at "the 60 million-plus households that are not accessing ESPN in the traditional ways today," says ESPN chairman James "Jimmy" Pitaro, a former lawyer who's been running ESPN for more than seven years.
I recently sat down with Pitaro at his Westport, Connecticut, home, an airy place with a "Beatles bathroom" (the walls are covered with photos of the Fab Four), a basketball hoop in the driveway, and a mixed-breed rescue dog named Jeter. We spent the bulk of the interview talking about the DTC service but also covered his relationship with Disney CEO Bob Iger and the growing importance of gambling to ESPN's business.
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