A top Charter exec stated that subscriber losses from its carriage dispute with Disney “have been ‘much less’ than what the company initially anticipated,” according to Lucas Manfredi of THE WRAP. Charter CFO Jessica Fischer said that the impact to broadband subscribers was “very, very small.” Fischer said, “We believe that we’ve come out on the other side of this really still doing well from a subscriber perspective.” Charter in Q2 2023 reported 14.7 million subs, but Fischer “declined to disclose the specific amount of losses Charter experienced.” Fischer said that Charter was “’really happy’ with the deal and that it met all of the company’s objectives.” Manfredi noted the new carriage deal makes Disney+ Basic available in the Spectrum TV Select package, while ESPN+ “will be provided to Spectrum TV Select Plus subscribers as will the sports network’s flagship direct-to-consumer service when it launches.” Fischer said of Disney, “They have the linchpin asset in ESPN. You could not move to a new model without it” (THE WRAP, 9/13).
BUNDLE IS HERE TO STAY: In N.Y., Benjamin Mullin noted the Charter-Disney resolution “signaled that the bundle is probably not going anywhere.” It is “just adjusting for new viewing habits,” with cable companies “aiming to sell new packages that include streaming services.” Many cord-cutters are “piecing together their own bundle,” subscribing to a mix of services including Netflix, Max and Hulu. The deal between Disney and Charter has “made it clear that cable providers” -- which often provide broadband internet service -- are “eager to put together streaming bundles for them.” Former Viacom CEO Tom Freston said that in the "short term, at least, the new bundling will probably not be as profitable as the traditional cable business.” Freston said that “spells trouble for the titans of the media industry,” which are trying to “milk the cash-rich cable business for as long as possible while they build streaming services to replace them.” Freston noted that live sports and news programming, which have “yet to be completely replicated by streaming services, remained vital to the pay-TV bundle.” Mullin noted NFL games will "remain on traditional television for years because of existing contracts, guaranteeing a lifeline for cable providers.” But streamers are “starting to encroach on that territory, too.” Amazon and YouTube are “making inroads” with NFL fans by securing football rights, and Apple has begun to show MLB and MLS matches (N.Y. TIMES, 9/14).
THE NEW NORM: DIGIDAY’s Tim Peterson wrote the Disney-Charter situation is the “latest signal of pay-TV’s slow surrender to streaming and streaming’s succumbing to traditional TV’s economics.” Charter gained the right to offer access to Disney+ and ad-supported ESPN+. It seems "somewhat more clear that this is the new model for pay-TV distribution deals,” as linear’s and streaming’s opposing sides of the broader TV business “lean more on one another.” For as much as the traditional TV and streaming businesses have been “heading in opposing directions over the past decade,” they seem to be “trending toward a sort of stasis.” Traditional TV is “still bleeding subscribers but still dominates TV watch time and TV ad spending.” Streaming services are "gaining subscribers but at a slowing rate.” Traditional TV is “becoming a smaller part of the overall TV business” while streaming is “becoming a bigger part.” But neither side are "shrinking or growing to the extent that one will eclipse the other anytime soon.” Instead, they seem to be “headed to a sort of equilibrium, and the Disney-Charter deal appears to be a reflection of that” (DIGIDAY, 9/13).
