ESPN Standalone Offering Not Coming Anytime Soon, ESPN Chief Says

Walt Disney Co DIS's ESPN channel could eventually mimic HBO's path and be offered to consumers as a standalone option - just not anytime soon. John Skipper, President of ESPN, spoke at the Recode Media conference and said that offering the sporting network to consumers as a standalone option is not a "good business." USA Today noted that ESPN reaches 97 million homes, more than 3 times HBO's roughly 30 million cable subscribers. For the time being, Skipper reaffirmed that the best course of action for ESPN is to remain part of a cable bundle . However, the executive did add that the company will look at the direct to consumer model "when we think it will help us grow our business." Meanwhile, Re/code reported that ESPN is exploring digital streaming services to offer its network over online. "A number of people have expressed interest and we're in discussions with a large number of people," Skipper also said during his appearance at the conference. The report added that ESPN will likely be offered as part of a larger bundle which includes other Disney channels. Finally, Skipper stated that the "only think" he is willing to discuss with Apple Inc. AAPL and its media boss Eddy Cue (also a personal friend of Skipper) is "that Apple understand the value of the Walt Disney Company." Shares of Disney were trading lower by around 1 percent at $94.64 late Thursday morning while shares of Apple were lower by more than 1 percent at $97.07.