Breaking: Charter, Disney Reach Deal to Restore ABC, ESPN, Ahead of ‘Monday Night Football’; Customers to Receive Free Streaming

For the past week and a half, it looked like a carriage dispute between Disney and Charter Communications — which owns Spectrum Cable — could fundamentally alter the way that video and streaming was delivered to consumers, but on Monday, Sept. 11, the two sides came to a resolution, seemingly spurred on by the most conventional of reasons, football.

The disagreement saw 19 channels owned by Disney, including ABC, all of the ESPN networks, Disney Channel, Freeform, and FX blacked out for all Spectrum customers across the country. Additionally, a handful of local affiliates owned and operated by Disney went dark as well. However, ahead of Disney’s first NFL game of the season airing on ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC on Monday night, the two sides reached an agreement to restore service to the millions of impacted customers.

The deal will restore the channels to Spectrum’s 15 million customers in time for the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets to square off in the “Monday Night Football” season opener. Rumors had begun to circulate earlier in the day that a deal could be coming.

As part of the agreement, Spectrum TV Select customers will receive Disney+ Basic, the streaming service’s ad-supported package, and Spectrum TV Select Plus subscribers will also get access to ESPN+. TV Select customers will also be given access to the forthcoming ESPN standalone streaming service when it launches on a date to be determined. At the core of the dispute was Charter’s contention that because Disney was making so much of its content available via its Disney+, Hulu, and EPSN+ streaming services, it held less value for traditional TV providers.

However, Disney was still seeking an increase in retransmission and carriage fees for its broadcast and cable channels respectively. By agreeing to pay Disney’s higher rates, Charter would essentially be forced to raise its prices on customers at a time when more and more consumers are fleeing traditional TV providers than ever before. This deal seems to address at least some of Charter’s concerns.

“Our collective goal has always been to build an innovative model for the future,” Charter CEO Chris Winfrey and Disney DEO Bob Iger said in a joint statement. “This deal recognizes both the continued value of linear television and the growing popularity of streaming services while addressing the evolving needs of our consumers. We also want to thank our mutual customers for their patience this past week and are pleased that Spectrum viewers once again have access to Disney’s high-quality sports, news and entertainment programming, in time for Monday Night Football.”

As part of the deal, Spectrum customers will see service restored to ABC, all of the ESPN networks, Disney Channel, FX, and National Geographic. However, they will no longer have access to a handful of Disney-owned channels including Disney Junior, Baby TV, Disney XD, Freeform, FXM, FXX, Nat Geo Wild, and Nat Geo Mundo. By breaking up the cable bundle, Spectrum presumably will only be forced to pay for Disney’s most popular channels, without subsidizing the less-viewed options. And, since much of that content can also be found on Disney’s streaming platforms, customers can still view it all, even if it is not in the same place that it initially was.

Since the blackout became official on Sept. 2, executives for both Disney and Charter Communications — Spectrum’s parent company — have given a number of less-than-optimistic updates about discussions between the companies. Winfrey went as far as to say that if the blackout stretched too long, his company could be forced to consider moving out of the video business altogether. By more fully integrating streaming options into cable packages, the video entertainment world is taking another big step toward its next phase. While the move might not be as drastic as it could have been had Charter opted to exit video all together, things are changing, as many industry execs believe that they must.