• by Wayne Friedman , August 20, 2019

In addition to the pricey fall launch of Disney+, the company’s streaming effort, Walt Disney’s ESPN could confront a tougher fall for its college football schedule in terms of advertising revenue.

A report from Imperial Capital says: "ESPN simply faces a difficult comp in terms of gross ratings points and advertising CPMs,” coming from the lack of top team game matchups in the major college-football conferences.

David Miller, media analyst for Imperial Capital, lowered his overall Disney revenue estimate to $19.35 billion from $19.53 billion.

Also on Tuesday, one new forthcoming competitor to Disney’s streaming TV plans — Apple TV+ — is reportedly launching in two months, according to the Financial Times. That's a month before the launch of Disney+ on November 12.

Bloomberg News also reported that Apple TV+ will be priced at $9.99 a month. The FT reported Apple TV+ will significantly boost its TV/movie content production budget to some $6 billion a year from an estimated $1 billion a year.

Disney’s stock on mid-day Tuesday trading was down 1% to $133.89.

Disney’s stock had a recent run-up, due to high expectations its Disney+ service would be a major competitor to Netflix, as well as strong, ongoing theatrical franchise extensions for its “Avengers” and “Star Wars” brands.

The Disney+ service is being priced at $6.99 a month. A bundled service of a Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu is $12.99 a month.