While AT&T, Comcast, Charter, Dish, TWC, Cablevision, FiOS, and countless more have access to WatchESPN, DirecTV customers won’t get it until “early 2015.”
More than four years after cable sports powerhouse ESPN launched its WatchESPN streaming service, DirecTV remains the only major pay-TV provider whose subscribers are unable to access it. But thanks to a new deal between the satellite company and ESPN’s parent company Disney, DirecTV customers will finally be able to get more value out of the most expensive channel on basic cable.
Like HBO Go and Showtime Anytime, WatchESPN requires users to log into the service through their pay-TV provider. But unlike those services, which are from networks that you pay for separately from your basic cable package, ESPN is something that virtually all pay-TV subscribers are compelled to accept — and pay top-dollar for — whether they watch it or not.
So every other pay-TV customer in the country was getting both ESPN and WatchESPN for presumably the same price that DirecTV customers pay for just ESPN. The new multiyear deal between Disney and DirecTV means that subscribers will at least be able to enjoy the access that others have had for years.
In addition to WatchESPN, the new contract adds access to other Disney-owned streaming services like Watch Disney, WATCH Disney XD, WATCH Disney Junior, WATCH ABC Family and WATCH ABC.
So when is the switch going to be flipped so that DirecTV customers will actually be able to stream live sports programming?
ESPNS says Disney-owned channels will “soon” be available via the DirecTV app and through DirecTV.com, and is even more vague about when it will begin authenticating the Disney and ESPN apps, saying only “early 2015.”
So DirecTV customers shouldn’t bet that they’ll be able to catch their favorite college bowl games on WatchESPN, at least not without borrowing a friend’s login.
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