ESPN Head Jimmy Pitaro Talks Strategic Partners and a Future in Streaming

One of the many big takeaways from Bob Iger’s July 14 interview with CNBC, was that Disney would be looking for “strategic partners” for ESPN.

While headlines following the interview tended to focus on Iger’s comments on the SAG-AFTRA strike or his assertion that network television stations “may not be core” to Disney’s brand, the interview also gave observers an idea of what the company may do about ESPN.

With linear television becoming less and less profitable, Iger has told anyone that would listen that the future of ESPN was likely on streaming.

Despite his assertions, however, ESPN relies on live sports rights, which are heavily tied into the cable television ecosystem. If Disney wants to move ESPN to streaming, there will likely be a transition period. This is where strategic partners could come in.

Photo: Yahoo Sports

Jimmy Pitaro On Strategic Partners

In a recent interview, ESPN president Jimmy Pitaro shed some light on Iger’s initial comments.

“We are going to be making our flagship channels available direct to consumer. And yes as a part of that we are interested in partners. Partners that we think can make the flagship product more compelling,” Pitaro said. “And so we’re looking at things like distribution, technology, marketing, and content and yeah, Bob and I have had conversations, we’ve been having conversations. It’s early but we’ve both been very pleased by what I’ll call a healthy level of interest in ESPN.”

Photo: ESPN Press Room

While the ESPN head would not get into the specifics about who those partners could be, rumors have swirled that the network could partner with the NBA or NFL.

While a partnership of this sort would give ESPN access to more content, or perhaps even streaming rights, Pitaro emphasized that he was focused on ESPN’s flagship network.

Photo: Variety (Rex/Shutterstock)

“I will emphasize the fact that we believe that there are parties out there that can help us on the content side. And so you can draw whatever conclusions you want from that,” Pitaro said. “But, you know, my priority is when we do launch flagship channels directly to the consumer a la carte, that the content proposition is as compelling as it can be.”

The Future is Streaming

Talking to Pitaro and Iger, one thing is clear, the future of ESPN will be direct to consumer.

“We are obviously very aware of what’s happening in the traditional television world. And that business model has been very good to ESPN and the Walt Disney Company,” Pitaro said. “At the same time., Bob and I have been clear that taking our channels, our flagship channels direct to consumer is a when, it’s not if.”

Image Credit: ESPN

Pitaro added that “when we do that it’ll be in parallel with the traditional world.”

In the future, ESPN will be a streaming-first company. How soon that happens, and the form in which it takes, however, remains to be seen.

Credit: ESPN

Thanks for visiting MickeyBlog.com! Want to go to Disney? For a FREE quote on your next Disney vacation, please fill out the form below and one of the agents from MickeyTravels, a Diamond level Authorized Disney Vacation Planner, will be in touch soon! Also, thanks for reading!