ESPN Releases New Apple TV App With Auto-Play Live Streaming

ESPN said it updated its WatchESPN app for Apple TV, adding features including auto-play of live streaming video for authenticated subscribers.

When users launch the new app, a live stream will automatically begin playing.

The app also provides access to a collection of curated on-demand video, including content from 30 for 30, E:60, Outside the Lines, SC Featured, World Series of Poker and X Games. The update released Monday will give Apple TV users access to We the Fans, an eight-episode series about Chicago Bear season ticket holders, on April 9—two days before it appears on TV.

The tvOS app also features a sleeker, simpler user interface that helps users find featured content, sports or channels.

“From replays to full episodes of on-demand content prior to their telecast premieres, ESPN’s tvOS app is now so much more than our live streaming networks,” said Ryan Spoon, senior VP of digital product, design and audience development at ESPN. “With this latest update, authenticated users now have the full benefit of engaging with a wide range of live and on-demand video content from the very first click into what is now the ESPN App on Apple TV.”

Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.