Disney to launch ESPN direct-to-consumer streaming service

Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that it would launch a direct-to-consumer ESPN streaming service as part of an investment in BAMTech, Major League Baseball's streaming-technology arm. Disney, which bought a third of BAMTech for $1 billion, said the new streaming service will feature live sporting events, but also said it would not include content from ESPN's linear networks. Disney currently offers a streaming service to cable subscribers called WatchESPN that includes live feeds of all of ESPN's networks and offerings, and ESPN President John Skipper said the new offering would be "an outstanding complement" to that service. In an interview with CNBC, Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger mentioned college sports and others that would be highlighted on the service, but did not go into detail on if specific sports will be televised live. Live sports is one of the few televised offerings that command high advertising rates, as people still watch live instead of recording to watch later, and contracts for major-league and college sports broadcasts have ballooned in recent years.

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