ESPN+ Streaming Service Hits 1M Milestone

ESPN said it has signed up more than one million paying subscribers for the streaming service it launched in April, a boost of confidence for majority-owner Walt Disney Co.’s effort to win over cable TV cord-cutters, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The ESPN+ streaming service, priced at $4.99 a month, offers fans hundreds of live Major League Baseball and National Hockey League games, college football and soccer matches from around the world.

It also carries Top Rank Boxing, Ultimate Fighting Championship matchups, and original studio programming like “Detail” hosted by Kobe Bryant. The service doesn’t carry live streams from ESPN’s TV channels.

Reaching the one million subscriber mark is a significant milestone for ESPN President James Pitaro, whose primary task since taking the helm in March has been to launch a successful ESPN-branded streaming service.

ESPN this summer converted ESPN Insider subscribers, who were paying $4.99 a month for in-depth sports analysis and tools, to ESPN+ customers. In a statement, the company said the “vast majority” of the one million paying customers are new ESPN+ subscribers who signed up since April. Converted ESPN Insider subscribers are a “significant minority of the total.”