Disney and Spectrum hit their deadline.
The blackout that has kept Disney channels like ESPN away from Spectrum cable subscribers will come to an end after two sides came to an agreement on Sept. 11, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
Disney's channels have been off Spectrum since Aug. 31, which has caused Spectrum's pool of 14.7 million subscribers to miss out on the first week of college football and the U.S. Open for men's and women's tennis.
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Many analysts including LightShed Partners' Rich Greenfield and Stratechery's Ben Thompson believed that Sept. 11 would be the likely date for the sides to cave and come to an agreement because of "Monday Night Football."
Hearing multiple reports that Disney and Charter Spectrum will reach a deal before tomorrow’s Monday Night Football kickoff on ESPN & ABC 🏈🏈🏈
— Rich Greenfield, LightShed 🔦 (@RichLightShed) September 10, 2023
Interested to see what terms looks like and who caved on the big issues if a deal is reached $DIS $CHTR pic.twitter.com/FVrdhupnqI
The target date made sense because of the NFL's massive ratings draw. ESPN averaged 13.79 million viewers across its 15 "Monday Night Football" games and two Saturday games last season.
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The Walt Disney Co. and Charter Communications released announced their deal in a press release obtained by TheStreet.
Disney CEO Bob Iger and Charter Communications CEO Chris Winfrey put out a joint statement in the announcement:
“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.”
The statement also said that the deal is "effective immediately." This will end the blackout of Disney's 19 channels on Spectrum TV.
A few important points on the deal indicated in the statement:
1. ESPN+ and Disney+ Basic, which is Disney's ad-supported streaming option, will be part of Spectrum TV's Select package.
2. ESPN's flagship direct-to-consumer service will be available to Spectrum TV Select subscribers once it launches.
3. Charter will offer Disney's direct-to-consumer services like Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, and the Disney Bundle to all its customers.
It's worth noting that Spectrum TV Select subscribers will already be given access to the direct-to-consumer service that ESPN has yet to release. Disney CEO Bob Iger and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro have said in the past that ESPN will be moving to a full direct-to-consumer package in the future, and that move will reportedly take place in 2025 or 2026.
Main points of Disney & Charter's deal. A lot of driving customers to Disney's streaming platforms.$DIS $CHTR pic.twitter.com/urIWJMfHDc
— Colin Salao (@colincsalao) September 11, 2023
This is a breaking story and will be updated as soon as more information is available.
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