Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

ESPN’s new Apple TV app lets you watch four screens of live sports at the same time

Get ready for some football. And then more football. And then two more football games. All at once.

ESPN Apple TV app multicast feature with four screens
ESPN Apple TV app multicast feature with four screens
ESPN
Peter Kafka
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.

Do you like sports?

Do you like watching a lot of sports? At the same time?

ESPN wants to help you — if you subscribe to a pay TV service that has ESPN and if you have the most recent version of Apple TV.

If you meet those conditions, you can go try out a new version of the ESPN app that will let you watch up to four different streams on one screen.

ESPN Apple TV app multicast feature
ESPN

I haven’t tried it myself yet, but I watched a demo this week, and it seems pretty self-explanatory. You can select anything that ESPN is showing via the app — both the “real” ESPN programming as well as any digital-only streams they’re offering, and you can swap out different configurations pretty easily.

This isn’t the first app to use the “multicast” feature in Apple TV — there’s an MLB app, for instance, that lets you watch two screens at once. But this one is pretty slick:

First question: Other than demoing it to reporters or your friends, why would you want to watch four screens of ESPN simultaneously?

Answer: During Saturdays in the fall, when ESPN has paid a ton of money to show you college football and when it will air up to 55 games in a day, says Ryan Spoon, who runs digital for ESPN.

Next question: Really? I mean, someone probably wants to do this. But a lot of people? Like, more than 10 percent of the audience who has ESPN and the latest edition of Apple TV? Enough to appeal to the core subscribers you have to keep?

Answer: “I would be disappointed if it’s 10 percent. I would think it would be a significant percentage.”

Last question: Okay. I guess it’s like being at a sports bar, but you don’t have to put on pants. So will this feature be a core part of the new ESPN subscription service you guys are going to (finally) launch next year?

Answer: You think ESPN is going to talk about that in advance? Funny.


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh