The Walt Disney Company and local television broadcaster Allen Media Group has reached a new deal that extends the carriage of ABC network programming on seven Allen Media-owned stations.
The agreement covers KITV (Channel 4, ABC) in Honolulu, KEZI (Channel 9, ABC) in Eugene, KDRV (Channel 12, ABC) in Medford, WKOW (Channel 27, ABC) in Madison, WXOW (Channel 19, ABC) in La Crosse, WAOW (Channel 9, ABC) in Wausau and WJRT (Channel 12, ABC) in Flint.
“We’re pleased to extend our partnership with Allen Media Broadcasting, ensuring that audiences have continued access to ABC’s industry-leading programming for many years to come,” Susi D’Ambra-Coplan, the Senior Vice President of Affiliate Relations at Disney Entertainment Television, said on Wednesday. “The viewers in the communities these stations serve remain at the center of our shared commitment to deliver compelling shows, live sports and trusted news every day.”
“We are delighted to continue our relationship with Disney’s ABC Entertainment Network,” Byron Allen, the founder and CEO of Allen Media, said in a statement. “ABC has been an outstanding partner to our seven affiliated stations by delivering phenomenal programming across all genres, including entertainment, news and highly-coveted premium sports to our viewers.”
The renewal comes at a time when Allen Media is looking to shrink the side of its local TV station portfolio in order to pay down debt associated with other acquisitions in recent years. Earlier this year, the company sold around a dozen local TV stations to Gray Media for $171 million plus working capital adjustments.
The agreement also comes as ABC and Disney face increased pressure from independent owners of local TV stations over the fees charged for the privilege of carrying its broadcast programming in light of a strategy at Disney to bring its highly-valued news, reality show and sports content to Americans directly through their streaming platforms.
Over the past few years, some broadcasters have opted to end their affiliate relationship with ABC over the practice, with some complaining that Disney charges higher fees to offset news and sports-related expenses while depriving local TV stations of much-needed viewership and advertising revenue by selling that same programming through Disney Plus, ESPN Unlimited and Hulu.
Last year, Miami TV station WPLG (Channel 10) announced it would stop carrying ABC programming due to affiliate fees and dwindling network TV viewership. The channel, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, increased its local news output as an independent station.
Disney ultimately signed an affiliate agreement with Fox affiliate WSVN (Channel 7) to carry ABC programming on a digital sub-channel, which allowed it to maintain its presence on cable and satellite platforms in the region.
