MW Will ESPN's new streaming service spell the end for cable television?

By Lukas I. Alpert

Sports programming had been one of the few offerings that kept customers from fully cutting the cord, but ESPN's new streaming service could accelerate the exodus

If there was one thing cable television has had that helped slow the departure of viewers cutting the cord, it was its firm grip on sports programming.

But ESPN's announcement Tuesday that it will soon offer a new streaming service that will include all of its programming could mean that the end of cable is coming soon.

"This could really be viewed as a beginning of the end kind of moment," said Brad Adgate, a longtime media analyst and consultant. "The reality is that the cable model is well past its prime."

Cable television has been in a state of long-running decline to begin with, as streaming services have steadily eaten away at viewers over the past decade. But there are still about 60 million people in the U.S. who pay for cable - in large part for sports, which had been slower to move to streaming.

That move has been accelerating with more sports programming becoming available on services like Amazon's $(AMZN)$ Prime Video, Apple TV+ $(AAPL)$ and Netflix $(NFLX)$. Many regional sports networks broadcasting Major League Baseball games have also increasingly become available on streaming platforms.

ESPN had remained a holdout of sorts. While the Walt Disney Co. $(DIS)$-owned sports broadcaster has offered a streaming service called ESPN+ since 2018, that only showed a limited amount of the programming available on its group of channels on linear television.

The new offering, called simply ESPN and which will become available in the fall, will give viewers everything that is shown on ESPN on regular TV for the price of $29.99 per month. An unlimited bundle that includes ESPN, Hulu and Disney+ will be available for $35.99 a month with ads, and $44.99 without (a discounted price of $29.99 per month will be given to users for the first 12 months).

"We are providing everything ESPN has to offer directly to fans and all in one place," said ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro. "It will be the ultimate sports destination for personalized experiences and features, and, on top of that, fans will be able to choose to bundle ESPN with the industry-leading Disney+ and Hulu streaming services."

Subscribers can also opt to keep a level of service equivalent to the original ESPN+ offering for $11.99 a month. A bundle including that more select service, plus Hulu and Disney+, would cost $16.99 a month with ads and $26.99 without.

How quickly this development will impact big cable providers like Comcast Corp. $(CMCSA)$, Charter Communications Inc. $(CHTR)$ and Altice USA Inc. (ATUS) is not immediately clear, but the writing may be on the wall.

"Cable has been hemorrhaging subscribers for years and sports rights are getting more expensive so the economics of sports on linear television will eventually become unsustainable," Adgate said. "You don't need to be a rocket scientist to see where the audience is going."

As for the streaming services, which had functioned largely as loss leaders for years, although many have reached break-even recently, the introduction of advertising will make paying for sports programming far easier.

"The dollars to pay for sports and programming will come from the advertising going forward," Adgate said.

-Lukas I. Alpert

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May 13, 2025 19:39 ET (23:39 GMT)

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