Disney, Comcast Announce Comprehensive 10-Year Carriage Deal

At a time when many cable carriage negotiations are public and nasty, ESPN and Comcast stayed under the radar as they signed a comprehensive 10-year deal -- one that included retrans negotiations, new channel launches and new products. The deal, which includes all Disney-owned channels, will see 11 ESPN channels -- ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN 3D, ESPN GamePlan, ESPN FullCourt -- and the broadband channel ESPN3 on Comcast into the next decade. The deal is an important further step toward TV Everywhere, in that Comcast negotiated the right to stream ESPN's channels to its authenticated subscribers via broadband, mobile and wireless. For the first time, Comcast subscribers will have access to the WatchESPN app that streams ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3 to mobile and wireless subscribers. The deal also allows Comcast to put content from ESPN3, FullCourt and GamePlan on its sports and entertainment tier. The deal does not, however, include Longhorn Network (John Ourand, THE DAILY). An ESPN spokesperson said, “We were not able to include Longhorn Network in this agreement, but we continue to have productive conversations with Comcast and other distributors.” A Comcast spokesperson said, “We have no plans to carry (Longhorn Network) at this time” (CHRON.com, 1/4). In N.Y., Chozick & Barnes note the Disney deal “includes 70 services, including on demand and out-of-home viewing on smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles.” Comcast Cable President & Communications CEO Neil Smit said, “It’s the first time customers can watch ESPN, ABC and Disney across multiple platforms both in and outside the home.” Chozick & Barnes note the deal allows Disney “to tell Wall Street that its television offerings -- particularly ESPN, which contributes the majority of Disney’s annual profit -- are stable” (N.Y. TIMES, 1/5). 

DEAL DETAILS: In L.A., Meg James wrote this is the “first time that Comcast has agreed to pay for local retransmission of ABC-owned TV stations.” The agreement also marks the “first time that Disney has provided live streaming and earlier video-on-demand access to its stable of entertainment channels as well as” ESPN (LATIMES.com, 1/4). The WALL STREET JOURNAL’s Sam Schechner cites sources as saying that “perhaps most important” is that the Comcast-Disney deal “paves the way for ABC to be streamed live on the Web behind a wall, accessible only to cable subscribers.” Sources said that “online replays of TV shows could be restricted to such subscribers for a limited time after the shows air, too” (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 1/5). In N.Y., Claire Atkinson writes the deal “puts pressure on other content companies to get on board with the industry-wide TV Everywhere initiative aimed at preventing customers from cutting the cable cord.” It remains unclear how the new Disney-Comcast pact “will affect Web destination Hulu, which is co-owned by the two parties, along with News Corp” (N.Y. POST, 1/5).