The new sports streaming partnership between Disney's ESPN (DIS), Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) and Fox (FOXA) has just found its new CEO: former Apple and Hulu executive Pete Distad.
Distad, who most recently spent a decade as an executive at Apple (AAPL) after six years at Disney's Hulu, will oversee all aspects of the joint venture, including overall strategy, sales, marketing and sales, according to a press release.
The streaming service, announced last month, is expected to launch sometime this fall and comes at a time when media companies are facing increasing pressure from investors to scale their platforms and achieve profitability.
The unnamed platform will bring together the three companies' respective sports networks. Overall, the new service encompasses about 55% of U.S. sports rights, according to Citi Research.
“Pete is an accomplished innovator and leader who has extensive experience launching and growing new video services,” the three companies said in a joint statement. “We are confident that he and his team will create a highly compelling, fan-focused product for our target market.”
During his time at Apple, Distad was responsible for the business, operations and global distribution of the technology giant's video and sports activities, including the launch of the Apple TV+ streaming service.
In particular, he helped scale the young platform to compete with more established players. He was also involved in Apple's eventual acquisition of MLS Season Pass in 2022 for $2.5 billion.
“This is an incredible opportunity to build and grow a differentiated product that will serve passionate sports fans in the U.S. outside of the traditional pay-TV package,” Distad said in the press release. “I’m excited to bring together the industry-leading sports content portfolios of these three companies to offer a new world-class service.”
Earlier this month, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch said the service would be priced at the higher end of estimates and the number of subscribers was expected to reach about 5 million by 2029. Wall Street estimates the price will be between $40 and $50 per month.
The story goes on
The companies have not yet announced when they will release exact pricing information.
(Courtesy of Yahoo Finance)
Alexandra Canal is a senior reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @allie_canal, LinkedIn and email her at [email protected].
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