Sports network ESPN is currently in talks with Dish Networks and other players about a new streaming service that would include the channel as part of an online TV bundle, Variety reported.
In comments made during Re/code’s Code Media conference on Wednesday, ESPN president John Skipper confirmed that the sports network is in talks with Dish but declined to comment on potential negotiations with other players like Apple or Amazon. The company is focused on coming to a deal for a small bundle package, he said.
Skipper said the company is not, however, interested in selling directly to consumers, saying he believed such a strategy was not “good business.”
The move comes as ESPN and other industry players attempt to recoup losses that have come alongside the rise of cord cutting.
Over the last three years, Nielsen has recorded a 7.2 million subscriber drop for ESPN alone. As of January, Nielsen said ESPN had 91.4 million subscribers, down from 94.5 million the year prior.
According to a recent report from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), 1 in 10 consumers cut the cord in the past year. Just over a quarter of survey respondents who cancelled their pay-TV subscription in the past year cited the availability of lower cost viewing options as their reason for making the jump.
Skipper’s comments are consistent with those made by Disney CEO Bob Iger during the company’s fourth quarter earnings call earlier this year. At the time, Iger said the company would look into more opportunities to sell ESPN into skinny bundles, which are cheaper than many of today’s TV packages and thus more appealing to consumers.