{"id":458877,"date":"2026-02-04T23:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T23:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/458877\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T23:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T23:47:08","slug":"espn-explains-broadcast-app-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/458877\/","title":{"rendered":"ESPN explains broadcast, app strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Australian Open was the first tennis Grand Slam ESPN has aired since launching its direct-to-consumer app<\/a> last August and included changes to its distribution strategy that frustrated some fans. ESPN SVP\/Global Programming Tim Bunnell told SBJ Wednesday that, as part of an effort to \u201calign our premium live event programming with platforms that drive the greatest reach, engagement and revenue,\u201d a component of the network\u2019s strategy was migrating coverage once available on ESPN+ — including live feeds of the Australian Open\u2019s top three courts — exclusively to the \u201cUnlimited\u201d tier of the ESPN app, which prices at $29.99 per month. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt caught people\u2019s attention for sure,\u201d Bunnell said. \u201cWe made a distribution change, we were curious to see how it was going to work out, and I think in the end it was fine. But you\u2019re correct to point out, it was confusing to viewers. And it doesn\u2019t just go for this event. I think it\u2019s across the board — with premium live sports, it is now a more multi-layered and tiered access approach. There was a lot of confusion at the start. We tried to clarify and message, really in-tournament, to say, \u2018It\u2019s all available on the ESPN Unlimited product, the whole thing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to a direct subscription, Bunnell noted viewers with certain MVPD\/pay TV subscriptions — e.g., Cox, DirecTV, Fubo TV, Hulu + Live TV, Spectrum, U-verse, Verizon FiOS — can gain authentication access to the ESPN Unlimited tier in the app. Comcast and YouTube TV are notable exceptions<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re working through those deal-by-deal,\u201d Bunnell said of additional authentication. \u201cI don\u2019t have an update for you on specific solutions for specific platforms… We are building in that capacity, but it doesn\u2019t always happen at the same time. It\u2019s going to be there. It\u2019s just not all available quite yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bunnell also said ESPN\u2019s distribution strategy will not necessarily be the same across all tennis events. The network has the U.S. rights to the Australian Open (through 2031), Wimbledon<\/a> (2035) and U.S. Open<\/a> (2037) locked up long-term.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are still working through this. I think for broadcasters and consumers alike it\u2019s a new world and we\u2019re figuring it out together,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s no hard and fast plans that we\u2019re making commitments to on the other Slams at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

VIEWERSHIP VAULTS: Despite those growing pains in messaging, ESPN saw big audience gains<\/a> during the Australian Open. Viewership for the tournament as a whole jumped 29% year-over-year across ESPN\/ESPN2 and the ESPN app, including massive bumps for the semifinal round (+53%) and men\u2019s singles final between Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic (+57%). First- and third-round coverage on ESPN2 was up double-digit percentage points as well. \u201cWe are obviously thrilled with the outcome,\u201d Bunnell said. \u201cGood drama all the way.\u201d<\/p>\n

TALKIN\u2019 TALENT: Bunnell shared high marks for Malika Andrews, who is best known for her work on ESPN\u2019s NBA programming but made her tennis debut<\/a> as host of the network\u2019s week two coverage of the Australian Open. \u201cYou\u2019ll see more of her moving forward,\u201d Bunnell said. \u201cIt\u2019s great to have the combination of someone who\u2019s obviously very poised and professional on set but knows the sport cold and is a terrific personality.\u201d Bunnell also noted the expanding role of Chris Eubanks, who recently retired as a player, has worked the U.S. Open for ESPN and French Open<\/a> for TNT, and was a fixture of this year\u2019s Australian Open coverage, including notably appearing alongside Andrews at the desk during the finals. \u201cHe is one of the people who we\u2019ve received very positive reviews about across the board,\u201d Bunnell said of Eubanks. \u201cI don\u2019t think there was necessarily any conscious decision to escalate him, but just by virtue of his own professionalism and hard work he\u2019s become a big part of our coverage.\u201d Bunnell did not have an update on the status of analyst Darren Cahill, who ESPN did not include<\/a> in its talent lineup for the 2026 Australian Open but whose role an ESPN spokesperson noted is \u201cstill to be determined.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 Australian Open was the first tennis Grand Slam ESPN has aired since launching its direct-to-consumer app…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[565],"tags":[64,63,794,85,747],"class_list":{"0":"post-458877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-espn","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458877","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}