Scott Barton has joined Charter Communications to lead the company’s digital marketplace efforts, The Desk has learned.
On Monday, Barton started as Charter’s Group Vice President of Digital Marketplace, where he will help develop and launch a new digital storefront that showcases the company’s Spectrum-branded entertainment and service offerings, including a number of third-party streaming products that are offered to Spectrum TV customers as part of their subscription.
The role is perfectly tailored to Barton: He spent more than four years as the Chief Product Officer of MyBundle, where he helped further the development and marketing of the company’s streaming marketplace and subscription management platforms.
A spokesperson for Charter did not have additional information on Barton’s role with the company. A source familiar with his hiring said he will help the company further integrate popular streaming apps and services into Spectrum’s product line-up.
For the past two years, Charter has aggressively pursued new distribution deals with TV broadcasters and programmers that allow it to offer some ad-supported streaming services within certain Spectrum TV plans. The first such deal was reached with the Walt Disney Company after a brief programming-related disruption in 2023, after which Disney-owned streaming services like Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus were offered in numerous Spectrum TV packages.
Over time, the company has renewed its distribution deals with other broadcasters that allow it to make similar offerings to Spectrum TV customers. Currently, Charter has deals in place that grants Spectrum TV customers access to services like Paramount Plus, AMC Plus, The Weather Channel’s connected TV app, Tennis Channel Plus and Peacock, contingent upon the availability of certain channels within their TV plan.
Last November, executives at a TV broadcaster said Charter would launch a new digital hub that outlines the availability of streaming services within certain Spectrum TV packages, with the platform slated to launch later this year. Reached for comment, a Charter spokesperson told The Desk that the company was moving forward with a number of initiatives, including the renewal of programming agreements, integrating streaming video apps into Charter’s platform, and launching a “video portal” that makes it easy for Spectrum subscribers to start and stop services.
The video portal is expected to launch within the first half of 2025, Charter CEO Chris Winfrey said in February. The launch of the portal will also include a consumer education campaign that informs Spectrum TV subscribers on the various streaming video benefits available to them.
