Disney Chair & CEO Bob Iger said that ESPN's direct-to-consumer offering with BAM Tech "could feature specific sports and even specific seasons and subscription periods," according to Mike Farrell of MULTICHANNEL NEWS. Disney announced plans for the service in August, and Iger yesterday said that the plan is "to launch it next year." Iger said that the idea is to "monetize the 'treasure trove' of digital rights to sports that ESPN controls but that don't necessarily make it to the signature service." He added that the offering would be "complementary to what ESPN already airs and that pricing is still being worked out." Iger also "downplayed any speculation that ESPN is being pushed into the direct-to-consumer business because its core TV business is eroding." He said, "We’re looking at this as a complementary service of what we already have. We’re not doing this because we think the current business model is in any way crumbling. We’re doing this because we think we have more opportunity to reach more sports fans. And we’re also doing it because we can’t predict where the business goes over time or when it goes someplace over time" (MULTICHANNEL.com, 9/21).
