Nearly two years ago, Charter Communications and the Walt Disney Company ended a week-long distribution spat by reaching a new carriage agreement that broke the mold in the pay TV industry.
The deal allowed Charter’s Spectrum TV to offer access to some of Disney’s streaming apps, but not the entire bundle, as part of new linear TV packages, ones that dropped a handful of smaller, lesser-watched networks like Freeform and FXM.
Now, Charter and Disney have renewed their agreement in a way that offers complete access to Disney’s streaming bundle and reincorporates the cable networks that were previously removed.
Starting this week, Spectrum customers with the Spectrum TV Select package have access to the ad-supported tier of the Disney Trio bundle — Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus — as well as linear channels like FXX, FXM, National Geographic Wild, National Geographic Mundo, Disney Jr., Disney XD and Baby TV.
When Charter initially dropped the channels two years ago, the TV provider argued that the networks couldn’t justify their carriage based on their viewership and cost to subscribers.
That issue has since been resolved, with Charter saying the new Spectrum TV Select packages with the missing channels restored and access to ad-supported Hulu “drives incremental value and is financially net positive for both companies.”
“We began this journey to transform the video proposition for consumers with Disney, so it is befitting that this new agreement and the doubling down on our strategy continues with them,” said Tom Montemagno, the Executive Vice President of Programming Acquisition for Charter. “This extension is a true testament to our mutual confidence in this innovative model – which already is showing improvement in subscriber churn – and our commitment to work creatively together to achieve win-win outcomes for both of us and most importantly for our customers – all achieved mid-cycle and absent from any of the typical pressures from expiring agreements.”
“With the addition of Hulu and the return of our full portfolio of channels, we’re pleased to expand and extend our agreement with Charter – delivering the most robust and valuable combination of linear and streaming entertainment for years to come,” said Sean Breen, the Executive Vice President at Disney Platform Distribution. “This agreement reflects our continued focus on leaning into the strength of Disney’s best-in-class programming across every genre and platform – and our shared commitment with Charter to building innovative, consumer-focused distribution models that drive value across the board.”
