• by Wayne Friedman , 4 hours ago

New streaming services from ESPN and Fox One have seen spiking subscriber sign-ups around weekends since both launched on August 21, according to initial research from streaming research company Antenna.

This is largely attributable to the heavy new fall season of weekend sports programming and other content.

For the first 30 days after their respective launches, ESPN has amassed 2.1 million subscribers, while Fox One has 1.1 million.

The research does not factor in any Walt Disney streaming bundling deals (for ESPN), or from subscriber additions made through pay TV services -- MVPDs (multichannel video programming distributor) deals.

Fox One witnessed the best single weekend of nearly 350,000 of the two new streamers, due to the rematch of Super Bowl contenders Philadelphia Eagles-Kansas City Chiefs on September 14.

Fox One will see even better chances ahead, with possible national TV advertising in late-season NFL games as well as the upcoming World Series.

According to Antenna, the ESPN streamer gained two-thirds of its new subscribers' sign-ups through Disney Bundle deals -- which can be packaged together with Disney+ and/or Hulu.

Year-to-date, in terms of national TV advertising, the ESPN streamer has had 4,600 airings, resulting in 2.2 billion impressions with a media spend/media value of $13.8 million. About 3,500 airings have been on Disney/ABC Television networks.

Although Fox One has not aired any individual national TV spots, one creative airing of the ESPN-Fox One streaming bundle appeared, according to sources referencing iSpot data.

A 15-second spot talked up how the ESPN-Fox One bundle would “unlock more sports for subscribers costing $39.99 a month."

Fox One promotional content -- not paid advertising -- also played on YouTube.