YouTube TV will offer lower cost plans
In early 2026, YouTube TV will introduce several lower-priced plans that include fewer live TV channels, and more than 10 packages focused on sports, news, entertainment, kids and family. The packages include the YouTube TV Sports Plan, featuring broadcast networks, Fox Sports 1, NBC Sports Network, and all the ESPN networks including ESPN Unlimited. Add-ons such as NFL Sunday Ticket and NFL RedZone will be available for purchase. The skinny YouTube TV Plans will include unlimited DVR recording space and a multi-view option.
The Circana Take:
- This is the product of numerous carriage negotiations over the past year where YouTube procured the rights to re-package linear channels and ingest SVOD programming. As such, viewers will have more choice.
Crunchyroll will sunset ad-supported plan
Crunchyroll will sunset its ad-supported free plan at the end of the year and, starting January 1, it will only be available with a paid subscription. Pricing remains unchanged for now at $7.99/month for the entry-level Fan plan, $11.99/month for the Mega Fan, and $15.99/month for the Ultimate Fan tier. The free tier never took off and Crunchyroll ended up removing broadcast episodes, leaving viewers only a small catalog of content to access.
The Circana Take:
- This was an inevitable next step as Sony plans to focus on growing profitability in this segment.
Disney shutters ESPN3
Disney shuttered its ESPN3 streaming platform, moving its content into other ESPN services. This should come as no surprise as Disney has been consolidating and restructuring ESPN with its recent launch of ESPN Unlimited and moving to a paid streaming model. ESPN Unlimited now contains much of the ESPN3 programming which includes live smaller scale sports events, college games and on-demand replays.
The Circana Take:
- Disney’s decision to shutter ESPN3 is an expected next step following the launch of ESPN Unlimited and directs remaining viewers to the ESPN app.
- The integration of ESPN3’s content will add value for Disney by attracting more users who want all their sports news in one app.