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WatchESPN was a branding of the
Internet television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...
website and mobile application operated by
ESPN Inc. ESPN Inc. is an American multinational sports media conglomerate majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Hearst Communications as an equity stakeholder. For management and financial reporting purposes, the company is the main entity w ...
, a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which operates the network, through its 80% controlling ownership interest) and Hearst Corporation (which holds the remaining 20% interest). The service provides streaming simulcasts of
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The co ...
, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNews, ESPN Deportes,
ACC Network ACC Network (ACCN) is an American multinational subscription-television channel owned and operated by ESPN Inc. Dedicated to coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference, it was announced in July 2016 and launched on August 22, 2019. The channel o ...
,
Longhorn Network Longhorn Network (LHN) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between The University of Texas at Austin, ESPN and Learfield (formerly IMG College), and is operated by ESPN (itself owned jointly by The Walt Disney Compa ...
, SEC Network, ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Buzzer Beater for select cable television subscribers in the United States; it also serves as the exclusive platform for broadcasts from ESPN3, which until 2011, had operated as a separate website with a similar functionality to WatchESPN. The service is only available to subscribers of participating cable,
IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV) is the delivery of television content over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. This is in contrast to delivery through traditional terrestrial, satellite, and cable television formats. Unlike downloaded medi ...
and
satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna commo ...
providers, and was not offered as a standalone internet-only subscription service available to those who do not have a pay television subscription. On July 1, 2019, ESPN officially discontinued the WatchESPN app and branding, redirecting users to the ESPN app (which had been updated in 2015 to add integrated streaming functionality) and
ESPN.com ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN. It is owned by ESPN Internet Ventures, a division of ESPN Inc. History Since launching in April 1995 as ESPNET.SportsZone.com (ESPNET SportsZone), the website has developed numerous sections including: ...
streaming. Since the launch of the over-the-top companion service ESPN+ in 2018, ESPN has increasingly preferred
paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content, with a purchase or a paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their websites as a way to increase revenue after years o ...
ing new or renewed content acquisitions on that service instead of ESPN3. It is a standalone subscription product and does not require a separate television subscription.


History


As ESPN Networks

WatchESPN originally launched on October 25, 2010, when Time Warner Cable became the first cable television provider to offer ESPN Networks, which provided subscribers to ESPN an online simulcast of the channel through a dedicated website.
Bright House Networks Bright House Networks, LLC also simply known as Bright House, was an American telecom company. Prior to its purchase by Charter Communications, it was the tenth-largest multichannel video service provider and the 6th largest cable internet provi ...
(for which Time Warner Cable handles distribution agreements) began offering ESPN Networks on November 22, 2010. On January 25, 2011, ESPN Networks added streaming simulcast feeds of ESPN2 and ESPNU, as well as
out-of-market sports package In North America, an out-of-market sports package is a form of subscription television that broadcasts sporting events to areas where the events were unable to be seen by viewers on other broadcast and cable television networks due to the games no ...
s ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Buzzer Beater to the website, accessible only to subscribers of those services. Verizon FiOS began providing access to streams on the ESPN Networks website on February 17, 2011.


As WatchESPN

On April 7, 2011, ESPN released a mobile app called WatchESPN on the
App Store An App Store (or app marketplace) is a type of digital distribution platform for computer software called applications, often in a mobile context. Apps provide a specific set of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the c ...
for Apple devices, using the same subscriber authentication functionality to allow access to simulcasts of the available ESPN channels on the service via the iPhone, iPad and
iPod Touch The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...
; the app was released on the Android Market (now Google Play) on May 9, 2011. The ESPN Networks website was subsequently rebranded under the WatchESPN name on August 31, 2011 (the "Watch" brand was then applied to other
TV Everywhere TV Everywhere (also known as authenticated streaming or authenticated video on-demand) refers to a type of subscription business model wherein access to streaming video content from a television channel requires users to "authenticate" themse ...
applications for television networks owned by ESPN co-owner
Disney–ABC Television Group Disney General Entertainment Content, doing business as Walt Disney Television, is an American entertainment company that oversees television content and assets owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company. Forming the company's General Enter ...
since the launch of the service, including those for
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...
, Disney Channel/ XD/ Junior and Freeform; this shifted to the new brandings of "Disney NOW", "The ABC App" and "The Freeform App" in 2018). On May 8, 2012, Comcast began allowing authenticated Xfinity TV customers access to WatchESPN's streams via the app, as part of a deal in which the streams available on WatchESPN would also be made available on Xfinity's 'watch now' website. On August 28, 2012,
Midco Midco (known as Midcontinent Communications until 2016) is a regional cable provider, providing a triple play service of Cable television, Internet and telephone service for both North Dakota and South Dakota, along with much of Minnesota, and s ...
began allowing access to WatchESPN's simulcasts for its customers.
Charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
added access to the service in mid-February 2013.
Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV ...
, the first satellite provider to provide access to WatchESPN, announced it had added the service on April 1, 2014. Longhorn Network and SEC Network programs were added to the service upon SEC Network's launch on August 14, 2014 (Longhorn Network was contractually limited to
Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...
states, and not available nationwide through WatchESPN).
ESPN Classic ESPN Classic was an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns 20%). The channel was originally la ...
was never made available on WatchESPN due to a lack of live sports rights and licensing limitations, along with a general move to a video on demand model. In 2015, ESPN began to deprecate the standalone WatchESPN apps in favor of the updated ESPN mobile app (originally launched in 2008 with the iPhone's original App Store as "ScoreCenter"), which contains integrated access to ESPN's TV Everywhere streaming. In 2017, ESPN began to significantly downplay the WatchESPN branding on-air, in favor of promoting the ESPN app. ESPN withdrew the WatchESPN app from the App Store and Google Play on July 1, 2019, and redirected the web presence of WatchESPN to an equivalent section on ESPN.com.


Distribution

Simulcasts of the ESPN channels available on the WatchESPN app and website (including ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Buzzer Beater) were available through TV Everywhere subscription authentication through a number of providers which expanded through the years after new carriage agreements were negotiated. In 2015, as part of a new agreement with The Walt Disney Company,
DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. ...
(the largest holdout among major pay TV providers) added authentication rights to WatchESPN for its subscribers. Two major IPTV providers, Dish's Sling TV and
PlayStation Vue PlayStation Vue (PS Vue) was an American streaming television service that was owned by the Sony Interactive Entertainment subdivision of the Sony Corporation of America division of Sony. Launched with a limited major-market rollout on March 18, ...
, also offered authentication to WatchESPN. ESPN3, a similar service that had operated separately from WatchESPN until it was integrated into the service in 2011, is available through many other cable providers including those listed above. In all cases, a TV Everywhere login (or other login code for university and military customers) through a customer's service provider is required to access the services; ESPN3 is also accessible without login if the user's
IP address An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label such as that is connected to a computer network that uses the Internet Protocol for communication.. Updated by . An IP address serves two main functions: network interface ident ...
can be traced to a participating ISP.


Channel simulcasts

*
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The co ...
* ESPN2 * ESPNU * ESPNews * ESPN Deportes * ESPN Goal Line & Bases Loaded *
Longhorn Network Longhorn Network (LHN) is an American regional sports network owned as a joint venture between The University of Texas at Austin, ESPN and Learfield (formerly IMG College), and is operated by ESPN (itself owned jointly by The Walt Disney Compa ...
* SEC Network & SEC Network Alternate *
ACC Network ACC Network (ACCN) is an American multinational subscription-television channel owned and operated by ESPN Inc. Dedicated to coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference, it was announced in July 2016 and launched on August 22, 2019. The channel o ...


Internet-only channels

*
ACC Network Extra ACC Network (ACCN) is an American multinational subscription-television channel owned and operated by ESPN Inc. Dedicated to coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference, it was announced in July 2016 and launched on August 22, 2019. The channel o ...
* ESPN3 * Extra network streams during event coverage such as the
College Football Playoff The College Football Playoff (CFP) is an annual postseason knockout invitational tournament to determine a national champion for the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), the highest level ...
games *@ESPN (free content)


Platforms


Website

The WatchESPN.com website allowed viewers to view and switch between up to 20 events in a main viewing window, along with on-demand access after an event's end. The WatchESPN player additionally features four modules: Featured Events (which shows viewers highlights of live and upcoming events available on WatchESPN), Stats (which features statistics from the streamed event), the Chat 140 section (which allowed fans to discussion the events with other fans; this was later withdrawn as ESPN removed commenting functionality), and Facebook connect (which connects fans to their Facebook profile and allowed them to both post about the event that they are watching on their wall and discuss the event with other Facebook fans; this was also removed when ESPN removed commenting functionality).


Mobile devices

WatchESPN was available through the ESPN app for Android and
iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
, and the WatchESPN app for
Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design lan ...
. In December 2015, WatchESPN's streaming features were integrated directly into the main ESPN app for Android and iOS, with the standalone WatchESPN app deprecated on these platforms.


Digital media players

On June 19, 2013, the service became available through
Apple TV An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ...
. WatchESPN became available on Roku streaming players on November 12, 2013.
Chromecast Chromecast is a line of digital media players developed by Google. The devices, designed as small dongles, can play Internet- streamed audio-visual content on a high-definition television or home audio system. The user can control playback wit ...
support was added to the Android and iOS apps as part of an update released on June 3, 2014. Eventually, these apps became known as the ESPN app over time and added other functionality.


Windows 8/10

The WatchESPN app became available for download for compatible Windows 8 and
Windows 8.1 Windows 8.1 is a release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was released to manufacturing on August 27, 2013, and broadly released for retail sale on October 17, 2013, about a year after the retail release of its pre ...
devices from the Windows Store in February 2014, a version also compatible with Windows 10. Support for the app was withdrawn on June 30, 2017.


Video game systems

The WatchESPN service is available for download for the
PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...
and Xbox One. The ESPN app for Xbox 360 was discontinued on March 23, 2016.


See also

* DisneyNow * Hulu * Philo *
Bally Sports app The Bally Sports app is the video streaming service of the former Fox Sports Networks, now Bally Sports regional sports networks. The app replaces Fox Sports Go (FSGO), the app of the former Fox Sports Networks. The service is available for cust ...
* NBC Sports Live Extra * FuboTV *
Eleven Sports Eleven Sports is a multinational sports and entertainment media group. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, it is owned by Andrea Radrizzani's sports and media investment platform Aser Ventures. Eleven Sports' business model initially centred a ...


References


External links


WatchESPN
– WatchESPN official website
espn.go.com/watchespn/faq?
– WatchESPN Frequently Asked Questions page
WatchESPN mobile app
on the App Store
WatchESPN mobile app
on Google Play {{VOD services Defunct video on demand services ESPN media outlets