Fox Corporation and the Walt Disney Company launched their new streaming services and plans on Thursday, with the goal of providing most of their top-tier broadcast and cable programming to former cable and satellite subscribers without a traditional pay TV plan.
But the prices of each service — $20 per month for Fox One and $30 per month for ESPN Unlimited — are not intended to convince current cable and satellite customers from churning out of their service. And, in fact, many pay TV customers are already receiving the benefits of Fox One and ESPN Unlimited as part of their subscription.
The Desk can confirm that Fox One is currently available to nearly all cable, satellite and streaming cable TV platforms that previously allowed their customers to authenticate into the Fox Now app with their credentials. That includes subscribers of top-tier services like Comcast’s Xfinity TV, Charter’s Spectrum TV, DirecTV, Dish Network, Cox Contour TV, Altice USA’s Optimum TV, Fubo, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV.
ESPN Unlimited is a bit stingier with the pay TV partners it works with: As of Thusrday, only Spectrum TV, Fubo, Hulu with Live TV and the streaming version of DirecTV offer access to ESPN Unlimited as part of a pay TV subscription. Still, customers of those services who have the core ESPN channel as part of their programming package can create a MyDisney account and activate a no-cost subscription to ESPN Unlimited by linking their Spectrum, Hulu, DirecTV or Fubo credentials to the platform.
For both companies, pay TV partnerships are still integral to their finances, and executives at each service have expressed a desire to continue nurturing their cable, satellite and streaming relationships while bringing their programming to sports and news fans who don’t want to pay for a traditional TV package.
To that end, the companies are working together on a streamlined bundle that will pair Fox One and ESPN Unlimited for $40 per month. The bundle is expected to launch in October. The Desk was the first to report Fox’s interest in bundling its service with others, and Fox Streaming CEO Pete Distad has since confirmed more bundles are in the works.
The Fox One streaming platform offers two unique bundles within its own streaming service: Big 10 Plus and Fox Nation, each at separate price points. Fox One offers the following live channels:
- Fox broadcast (in most areas)
- Fox News Channel
- Fox Business Network
- Fox Sports 1
- Fox Sports 2
- Fox Weather
- Big 10 Network
- Fox Deportes
ESPN Unlimited includes the following channels and programming:
- ABC (only “ESPN on ABC” events)
- ESPN
- ESPN 2
- ESPN 3
- ESPNews
- ESPN U
- ACC Network
- ESPN Deportes
- SEC Network
- ESPN Plus
- SEC Network Plus
- ACCNX
Fox One and ESPN Unlimited also include on-demand programming from its available channels and streams.
