ESPN and Fox’s subscription streamers are off to strong starts on their own, but not together.
Disney and Fox each made their most valuable content available outside the pay-TV bundle for the first time on August 21, with the launches of ESPN Unlimited and Fox One, respectively.
ESPN’s streamer logged 3 million streaming sign-ups across its plans from launch through the end of October, including 1.7 million for its $30 a month Unlimited service, while Fox reeled in 2.3 million in that span, according to a new report from data firm Antenna. ESPN Unlimited’s figures are in line with analysts’ estimates for 1.5 million to 2 million subscribers by year’s end.
However, few customers have signed up for the $40 a month bundle with ESPN Unlimited and Fox One, Antenna estimates. That bundle costs $10 less than the two services combined.
Antenna found 99% of Fox One’s 2.3 million subscribers were paying for the stand-alone service as of October. That suggests only 23,000 or so signed up for Fox’s bundle with ESPN or its $25 bundle with Fox Nation, its streamer featuring conservative-friendly scripted and documentary shows.
Likewise, less than 1% of ESPN’s 3 million new streaming subscribers were on the Fox One bundle. Those customers are still open to deals, though. In fact, Antenna estimates that about two-thirds of new ESPN customers have chosen streaming bundles with Disney+ and Hulu through October. Disney CEO Bob Iger said that number is around 80% on a mid-November earnings call.
Spokespeople for ESPN and Fox declined to comment on Antenna’s figures.
Disney’s other bundles are working
The simplest explanation for the ESPN-Fox bundle’s slow start is that many sports fans had already found other ways to watch their teams. This bundle didn’t launch until October 2 — six weeks after their individual launches and more than a month into the NFL and college football seasons.
Fox One CEO Pete Distad said at his streamer’s launch event in August that the ESPN-Fox bundle wasn’t launching sooner because each company was prioritizing its own streamer, “making sure that both of our products launched successfully, and then getting it to work.” (ESPN and Fox previously tried to start a sports streamer called Venu with Warner Bros. Discovery.)
Less-than-ideal timing and limited promotion may have initially capped the ESPN-Fox bundle’s ceiling, but media industry analyst Alan Wolk isn’t writing it off yet.
“The hardcore fans signed up for both already,” Wolk said. He added that canceling ESPN and Fox One individually and subscribing to the bundle to save $10 a month may be a “hassle” that people don’t get to immediately. Or, people would rather bundle ESPN with Disney+ and Hulu than with Fox One.
It’s “no surprise that Disney’s focus would be on bundling the new ESPN app with Disney+/Hulu rather than Fox One,” Disney analyst Joe Bonner of Argus Research said. However, he said, “It’s still early days” for ESPN Unlimited and Fox One, so it’s too soon for sweeping conclusions.
Disney has had success pushing its customers toward its streaming bundles. These bundles can reduce churn, or monthly cancellations. Disney’s churn has been relatively low, outside the Jimmy Kimmel controversy that led to a spate of cancellations.
Conversely, Fox’s customers don’t seem interested in paying for bundles. That could be an issue if college football fans quit after the season ends. While its stand-alone streamer is off to a promising start, the end of football season will be a big test.
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