Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN is allowing owners of Apple Inc.’s iPad and iPhone who subscribe to pay-television service to watch its channels live on their devices.

“WatchESPN,” available today at Apple’s App Store, will stream ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 to Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks and Verizon FiOS TV subscribers, the Bristol, Conn.-based sports network said in an e-mailed statement.

ESPN, the most-watched US sports channel, plans in August to start inserting commercials into the video streams, said Sean Bratches, executive vice president of sales and marketing. Currently ads aren’t displayed when programs break for commercials.

ESPN is talking with Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems about their use of its networks on the companies’ respective iPad apps, he said.

“Our vision is to sell a dedicated and unique stream of advertising on the iPhone and iPad platforms,” Bratches said in an interview. “We’re also experimenting with a different form of advertising that will be more interactive.”

Unlike apps from Time Warner Cable and Cablevision, which restrict viewing to a subscriber’s home, ESPN lets viewers watch from any location, Bratches said.

Ads seen through streams on apps from the cable companies aren’t counted by Nielsen Co., which provides viewership data that is used to determine how much advertisers pay for commercials. Nielsen is working on a system to count online and mobile viewing.

To access the channels, users of ESPN’s app must supply cable-account information after downloading the free software.

A version optimized for the iPad will be released in May, the company said. ESPN said it plans to make the software available on other phones and tablets “in the near future.”

“WatchESPN” is customized for each viewer’s location to comply with league contracts, Bratches said.

“This is totally mobile,” Bratches said.