Cable giant Charter Communications and Disney reached an agreement ending a blackout of ESPN for millions of pay-TV customers, the Wall Street Journal reported, hours before the sports network’s first broadcast of the new NFL season’s Monday Night Football.
The agreement will restore popular Disney channels including ESPN and ABC to Charter’s 14.7 million customers, the newspaper reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.
The channels had been off the air for Charter customers for more than a week as a result of a fee dispute between the companies.
CNBC also reported on the deal, saying that it includes a discounted wholesale price for Disney+ access as well as a marketplace increase for Disney.
The resolution, as reported by CNBC, “would be ”
CHTR and DIS shares have bounced higher on the new erasing the decline since the blackout began…
Disney released the following press release explaining the details of the deal:
The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) and Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) today announced a transformative, multiyear distribution agreement that maximizes value for consumers and supports the linear TV experience as the industry continues to evolve. As part of the deal, the majority of Disney’s networks and stations will be immediately restored to Spectrum’s video customers.
In a joint statement, Robert A. Iger, CEO, The Walt Disney Company, and Chris Winfrey, CEO, Charter Communications, said: “Our collective goal has always been to build an innovative model for the future. This deal recognizes both the continued value of linear television and the growing popularity of streaming services while addressing the evolving needs of our consumers. We also want to thank our mutual customers for their patience this past week and are pleased that Spectrum viewers once again have access to Disney’s high-quality sports, news and entertainment programming, in time for Monday Night Football.”
Among the key deal points:
In the coming months, the Disney+ Basic ad-supported offering will be provided to customers who purchase the Spectrum TV Select package, as part of a wholesale arrangement.
ESPN+ will be provided to Spectrum TV Select Plus subscribers.
The ESPN flagship direct-to-consumer service will be made available to Spectrum TV Select subscribers when it launches.
Charter will maintain flexibility to offer a range of video packages at varying price points based upon different customer viewing preferences.
Charter will also use its significant distribution capabilities to offer Disney’s direct-to-consumer services to all its customers – in particular its large broadband-only customer base – for purchase at retail rates. These include Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, as well as The Disney Bundle.
Effective immediately, Spectrum TV will provide its customers widespread access to a more curated lineup of 19 networks from The Walt Disney Company. Spectrum will continue to carry the ABC Owned Television Stations, Disney Channel, FX and the Nat Geo Channel, in addition to the full suite of ESPN networks. Networks that will no longer be included in Spectrum TV video packages are Baby TV, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FXM, FXX, Nat Geo Wild and Nat Geo Mundo.
To preserve all these valuable business models, the parties have also renewed their commitment to lead the industry in mitigating the effects of unauthorized password sharing.
Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Geetha Ranganathan writes that the deal is “a win for both companies but more importantly would preserve the status quo for content owners and the broader media ecosystem.”
