Amazon’s streaming marketplace Prime Video Channels is proving to be a valuable driver of new subscriptions to Fox Corporation’s premium streaming product Fox One, according to a new report released by Antenna on Tuesday.
In its quarterly “State of Subscriptions” report, the data analytics firm said most people are subscribing to Fox One through a bundle or third-party marketplace, rather than paying $20 per month for the standalone plan offered by Fox directly.
The network’s biggest streaming partner is Amazon, with 57 percent of new subscription activations to Fox One coming from Prime Video Channels marketplace between launch day (August 21) and Halloween, Antenna said.
Around one in four subscribers (27 percent) are paying for Fox One directly from Fox, according to Antenna, and just 1 percent of subscribers are opting for the Fox One bundle that includes Fox Nation.
By comparison, the majority of sports fans who pay for ESPN Unlimited (85 percent) are giving Disney money directly, rather than paying a third-party provider, Antenna revealed. Unlike Fox, Disney hasn’t made its ESPN Unlimited plan available through Prime Video Channels, though streamers can pay for the service through Apple and Roku’s native payment processing tools.
Most customers who are purchasing ESPN Unlimited are doing so via the Disney streaming bundle, which includes Hulu and Disney Plus. That isn’t surprising, since Disney has offered a deep discount on the Disney Trio bundle with ESPN Unlimited since it launched. The discount charges $30 per month for access to ESPN Unlimited, Disney Plus and Hulu — the same $30 per month that Disney charges for ESPN Unlimited on its own.
But Disney’s decision to market ESPN Unlimited on its own, rather than sell the plan through a third party like Prime Video Channels, means its growth has been slower than Fox One. Nearly two million people (1.7 million) signed up for ESPN Unlimited between launch date and Halloween, according to Antenna, while more than two million (2.3 million) purchased Fox One during the same time frame.
Content-wise, Fox One also offers a more-diverse set of linear channels than ESPN Unlimited. Fox One includes Fox News, Fox Weather and the Fox broadcast network — so, for $20 per month, streamers get more than just sports. By comparison, ESPN Unlimited includes live access to the ESPN cable multiplex over streaming, plus live athletic competitions aired on ABC, streamed on ESPN Plus and ancillary college sports channels like SEC Network.
Disney’s entertainment channels like FX, National Geographic and Freeform aren’t included, and ESPN Unlimited subscribers can’t get their local ABC stations — or even local programming, like news — through ESPN Unlimited; Fox One offers local stations and local programming to streamers across the country.
The full State of Streaming report is available to view by clicking or tapping here (free registration required).
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