Nov 21, 2018 - Economy & Business

ESPN loses 2 million subscribers in 12 months

ESPN camera man

Photo: Brett Carlsen/Getty Images.

Disney revealed in its annual report released Thanksgiving eve that ESPN continues to lose its subscriber base, as 2 million subscribers have left over the past 12 months.

Why it matters: ESPN will need to regain those subscriptions through its digital platform, ESPN+. But the margins are unlikely to add up for them, for those add-on subscriptions are $4.99 a month, roughly half of what the average pay-TV consumer pays for the channel. Subscriptions are now at 86 million compared to 88 million as reported in Disney’s fiscal 2017 report.

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