What to know about ESPN's new streaming service

ESPN will unveil an AI-fueled feature that mimics the voice of TV anchors as part of a slate of app-based features set for release on Thursday, alongside the launch of the sports network's streaming service, the company said this week.

The new feature, called "SportsCenter for You," will provide personalized videos specific to a user's interests and reliant upon AI-generated commentary derived from the voices of SportsCenter anchors Hannah Storm and Gary Striewski, among others.

The streaming service will appear under the title "ESPN" and cost subscribers $29.99 per month or $299.99 per year, ESPN said. It will include interactive features like betting and fantasy sports, helping distinguish it from the broadcaster's linear television offering.

"Our mission is to serve the sports fan anytime, anywhere," Jimmy Pitaro, the chairman of ESPN, told reporters on Tuesday. "This service and the enhanced ESPN App will deliver on that promise."

In an interview with ABC News, Pitaro said, "All of our content, all of our networks available direct to consumer for the first time in ESPN's history. So that's 12 networks, 47,000 live events, on top of live games of our studio programming. All of our original films. Part two is we will be launching a significantly enhanced ESPN App. You'll see fantasy integration, betting integration, commerce integration."

Disney is the parent company of both ESPN and ABC News.

The network's updated mobile app will also include a feature called "Verts," a swipe-able series of videos driven by a personalized algorithm that resembles social media platforms like TikTok.

A new feature called "StreamCenter" will sync a user's ESPN app and TV, allowing viewers to follow real-time stats, betting odds and shopping deals alongside a sporting event. The synced-up platforms will also enable viewers to use their mobile device as a secondary controller for the program that appears on their TV screen, the company said.

A bundled Disney+, Hulu and ESPN offering will be made available for $29.99 over the first 12 months, ESPN said. After that period, the bundled set of three services will cost $35.99 per month with ads or $49.99 per month without ads, ESPN said.

A bundled ESPN and Fox offering, set for release on Oct. 2, will run $39.99 per month. A separate bundle of ESPN and NFL+, which includes NFL RedZone, will be made available on Sept. 3 for $39.99 per month.

A lower-priced version of the streaming service featuring a narrower set of content will cost $11.99 per month or $119.99 per year.

The full ESPN streaming service will include programming from the network's array of channels such as ESPN, ESPN2 and the SEC Network, among others. Original programming, documentaries and studio shows like "The Pat McAfee Show" will also be accessible for unlimited subscribers.

WWE live events will also be made available on the app, the company said.

Current cable subscribers can gain full access to the new streaming service after being authorized by their cable provider, company executives said on Tuesday.

However, the company added, full authorization remains unavailable through select cable providers as ESPN resolves outstanding negotiations, meaning some cable subscribers will be unable to access content broadcast exclusively on the streaming service. Such content will be initially unavailable to customers of Comcast Xfinity, YouTube TV, Dish Network, Sling TV and Cox, the company said.

Beset by cord-cutting that threatens its mainstay traditional TV business, Disney has grown the audience for its bundle of streaming services.

Disney added 1.8 million subscribers to its streaming service Disney+ during its most recent quarter, bringing total global subscribers to nearly 128 million, the company said earlier this month. The company had expected a decline in subscribers over the three-month period.

Speaking on an earnings call in May, Disney CEO Bob Iger touted the ESPN streaming service as a means of reaching viewers on all platforms, especially young viewers.

"The more ESPN can be present for a new generation of consumers with a product that serves them really well, the better off ESPN's business is," Iger said.

Disney is the parent company of ESPN, Disney+, Hulu and this station.