The Story:
At a time when print media sales all over the world continue to decline, Time Inc., the owner of globally recognized sports publication, Sports Illustrated, is launching Sports Illustrated TV, a subscription streaming service that will address the asset’s need to move into digital. The service goes live today, November 16.
The Details:
The service will initially be available exclusively to Amazon Prime members via Amazon Channels, where they can subscribe to more than 130 subscription video channels for $4.99 a month.
Initial content will be about 130 hours of a mix of studio shows, sports movies, Sports Illustrated swimsuit programming and original documentary series. No live sporting events will be aired on this service. AFTV News offers a detailed view of available shows.
Competition for Time’s SI TV service is expected from Disney’s ESPN on-demand Plus streaming service that goes online next spring. However, ESPN’s focus is more on gameday-level reporting than Sports Illustrated’s deeper approach to sports journalism.
We could see a clear dichotomy here as sports intellectuals and game-oriented viewers naturally gravitate to one service over the other, but both services will likely get their fair share of subscribers as emerging trends gradually take sports away from traditional TV and into the realm of streaming.
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