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Its vast media empire includes late-night talk shows, ESPN, podcasts, and other platforms that allow it to cross-promote its film releases at relatively low additional cost鈥攁 strategy it has relied on for more than a decade.

In addition, Max, Peacock, and Paramount+ have doubled down on sports rights, while ESPN is pivoting from a cable network to a D2C streaming service. All this is driving a surge in CTV ad spending, especially since live sports content commands loyal viewership and high ad rates. What does this mean for marketers, media companies, and distributors? The TV ship has sailed.

How this works: Disney's ABC and ESPN will continue to be the go-to channels for marquee events, including the NBA Finals and Christmas Day games. They will also broadcast NBA Saturday Primetime and NBA Sunday Showcase packages, ensuring high visibility for key matchups. NBCU is set to reintroduce NBA coverage, featuring opening night games and a new Sunday night primetime slot.

As that process plays out and legacy broadcast channels like ESPN move from the cable and satellite ecosystem to a D2C streaming model, sports fans will ditch their cable bundles for streaming services. That migration of viewership could be the final blow for the legacy pay TV business, which in recent years has been held together by live sports. The future of streaming media is ad-supported.

The news: The fifth game of the 2024 WNBA Finals between the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty was the league鈥檚 most-watched finals contest in 25 years, with 3.3 million viewers, per Nielsen data reported by ESPN. The number of watchers was especially noteworthy given the competition from the NFL鈥檚 鈥淪unday Night Football鈥� and MLB鈥檚 National League Championship Series.

ESPN, Amazon, and Warner Bros. Discovery are negotiating for NBA streaming rights. Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Disney are planning a joint sports venture to compete with Amazon, which has Thursday Night Football, even as smaller streamers like Fubo ask regulators to probe the plans. Netflix is about to become the home of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).

The joint sports offering between ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox would also combine multiple offerings. These platforms need to find other ways to stand out beyond exclusivity. Look for streamers that offer the best first-party data.

Consumers have repeatedly expressed interest in bundles, especially as streaming prices rise, and Disney鈥檚 vast portfolio that includes Disney+, ESPN, ABC, and more could result in a high-value bundle that would disrupt the streaming landscape.

Clash and consensus: Last fall, Charter Spectrum and Disney clashed over carriage fees, resulting in Disney blocking access to ESPN, ABC, and other channels during crucial broadcast periods. In the end, Charter Spectrum agreed to a deal that gave its customers free access to Disney+ and Hulu with ads.

ESPN takes a shot at creating a sports streaming hub. Yes, Super Bowl ads are expensive, but compared to what? 鈥楳ake noise鈥�: How Tubi鈥檚 disruptive Super Bowl ad happened. Yesterday鈥檚 Chart of the Day: Temu takes the shine off Shein.

Ross says ESPN Sportsbook. Zak says ESPN Betting, and Stephanie is the only one who's correct with ESPN Bet. ESPN Bet is the name that they have chosen. They will be promoting on regular ESPN broadcasts and could possibly see integration with streaming service ESPN+ as well. Folks, any thoughts on this move or just the incredibly fast evolution of sports betting in the US? Stephanie Taglianetti:.

This year鈥檚 March Madness tournament soared to record viewership thanks to stars like Caitlin Clark, leading ESPN to sign a major deal and driving brands like Powerade to follow suit. As sports viewership grows, the brands that get in early and develop relationships will win out in the long term.

DirecTV is currently engaged in a similar channel blackout over carriage fees with Disney that has seen its satellite customers lose access to ESPN (and other Disney-owned channels) as the NFL and college football seasons kick off. DirecTV has filed a complaint with the FCC over Disney鈥檚 actions, signaling a possible legal battle to come.

The news: Disney and DirecTV have reached a new carriage fee agreement, ending a two-week blackout of channels including ABC and ESPN that affected high-profile events like the NFL season kickoff and the second presidential debate.

ESPN is also a valuable asset under Disney鈥檚 umbrella, attracting digital live sports viewers. But Disney鈥檚 lead is threatened by the growth of YouTube, which dominates time spent among young users. Viewership of The Disney Channel, the company鈥檚 child- and teen-centric network, has plummeted over the past decade.

Disney and Spectrum reach a new deal that includes Disney+ and ESPN subscriptions. Methodology: Data is from the September 2023 Variety Intelligence Platform (VIP+) and Luminate report titled "The Show Must Go Off" as cited in Variety. This study was conducted by analyzing the TV content released by the eight largest U.S.

But it also focused its remaining ad spend on sports programming, commanding 23% of insurance ad impressions on ESPN. By contrast, Progressive鈥檚 ad spending stayed well above its competitors鈥�, and it rose to become the most-seen insurance brand on TV over this time鈥攊ncreasing its share of ad impressions to 22.36%. Next steps: We expect insurers鈥� advertising spend to rise throughout 2024.

These include ongoing negotiations with Comcast to broadcast games for 12 teams through Diamond Sports and the looming decision by ESPN on whether to continue its $550 million annual contract for key MLB broadcasts.

Ally signed a single-year, multimillion-dollar advertising deal with ESPN in 2022, 90% of which will be spent on women鈥檚 sports broadcasts. For Coca-Cola and others, the Women鈥檚 Sports Club represents a chance to get in on the ground floor of a growing market and become known as a supporter of women鈥檚 sports leagues.

As part of Disney鈥檚 100th anniversary, TikTok will create a Disney page that will run for four weeks featuring content from 48 Disney media properties including Pixar, ESPN, and Marvel. Additionally, Disney has signed on as a partner for Pulse Premiere, a premium ad placement that TikTok launched in May.

In June, Disney rolled out playable ad formats on Hulu and ESPN. Viewers can use their connected TV remote to interact with a Quiz Show trivia game or a Beat the Clock challenge, both which feature an advertiser鈥檚 branding at the forefront. Topgolf, one of the first brands to test these, released an ad that asked viewers to adjust the power of the swing, then hit golf balls on target.

The new sports bundle from ESPN, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Fox exemplifies this trend. It also shows that streamers see Amazon鈥檚 Prime Video and its new ads as a threat. 鈥淐ompetitors are becoming collaborators,鈥� in order to get leverage over Amazon and its sports content, Zucker said. 5. There鈥檚 no 鈥榥ew normal鈥� for advertising.

But these companies, especially ESPN, have a lot of digital sports that isn't on the TV network and I don't get the sense that's on here. You'd have to subscribe separately to ESPN+, even though ESPN is one-third of this thing. Max Willens:. It's very dangerous to market something and I guess we don't know that this is how it's going to be marketed because they have yet to start publicizing it.

Personally, I still think that ESPN and the NBA should just form a strategic partnership. Bob Iger was out there saying that the ESPN is becoming untenable. It's still a cash cow, but it's declining rapidly and that they need partnerships in order to continue. I think it would actually be better for the NBA to have a solid partner all in one place like ESPN. It would solve both of their problems.