Spectrum Threatens to Drop Linear Channels from Providers Who Don’t Offer Free Access to Streaming Platforms
Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal and other providers may soon have to allow Spectrum customers free access to their streamers or have their channels dropped.
The carriage dispute that cropped up between Disney and Spectrum ended in a landmark deal for the cable provider. It was able to drop eight Disney-owned linear channels to reduce its carriage fee payments, and it secured a free ad-supported Disney+ account for all of its 15 million cable customers.
- Charter plans to negotiate similar distribution agreements with providers that offer streaming services.
- If providers don’t agree to allow Spectrum cable customers free access to their streamers, Charter will drop those channels.
- If successful, Charter and Comcast’s joint venture Xumo could become one of the most effective streaming aggregators on the market.
Will Spectrum Cable Users Soon Get More Free Streaming Content?
Spectrum is operated by Charter Communications, whose CEO Chris Winfrey spoke with Wall Street analysts this week to discuss the company’s third-quarter earnings. During the call, Winfrey spoke briefly about the Disney deal, reiterating his view that it was good for both sides.
“For Charter, the agreement adds value to our video packages and better aligns linear content and DTC apps, which will be included for free in our video products,” Winfrey said. “We also maintained flexibility to offer lower-cost packages. Disney gets broader distribution of its [streaming] products with ad revenues from our video customers and upgrade subscriptions to ad-free. We’ll also sell Disney’s [streaming] apps to our Internet customers, including via Xumo over time.”
Winfrey also had a clear message for channel providers like Warner Bros. Discovery, NBCUniversal, and Paramount Global: you’re next. From now on, Winfrey told analysts, his company will exclusively be interested in carriage deals that allow Spectrum users to get access to the streaming platforms these providers own so that his customers aren’t being charged twice to watch the same content.
“We plan to modernize all of our distribution agreements upon renewal in a way that works for customers,” Winfrey stated. “That means packaging flexibility, value and not asking customers or us to pay twice for similar [streaming] and linear programming. If programmers insist on customers paying twice, we just won’t carry those channels. But we’d still be happy to sell their content in an a la carte app, same way as they do. Our goal is to modernize these agreements quietly and seamlessly for our mutual customer base.”
Is Xumo the Aggregation Platform Customers Hunger For?
Users have been clamoring for a platform that shows them all the streaming content they’re subscribed to in one place for years. Xumo, the joint venture video platform being developed by Charter and Comcast could be that platform, especially if Charter gets more providers to include streaming service access in carriage deals. Almost 40% of streaming users subscribed to a service through a third-party aggregation platform in the last year, and having all available content in an easy-to-browse menu will help cut down on streaming indecision.
“Our new hybrid distribution model, combined with Xumo’s content forward interface, provides a clear path to solve key customer issues of choice, value, and utility, with seamless linear DTC and SVOD integration in advanced search and discovery functionality,” Winfrey told analysts during the earnings call.
The recently-launched Xumo Stream box will help in that regard, as well. Comcast and Charter customers can use the box to purchase and view cable packages, and last week the device became available for Mediacom internet customers as well. The Xumo Stream box places all of the user’s streaming apps front-and-center, showing not just services but the actual titles available on those services as well.
Spectrum subscribers should be on the lookout for a new Xumo Stream box, as the device is replacing cable boxes for new Spectrum users. They should also keep an eye out for more free access to streaming services, as Spectrum’s parent Charter says it will no longer agree to carry channels from providers like WBD and Paramount unless their users get free access to Max and Paramount+.
Max
Max is a subscription video streaming service that gives access to the full HBO library, along with exclusive Max Originals. There are hubs for content from TLC, HGTV, Food Network, Discovery, TCM, Cartoon Network, Travel Channel, ID, and more. Watch hit series like “The Last of Us,” “House of the Dragon,” “Succession,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and more. Thanks to the B/R Sports add-on, users can watch NBA, MLB, NHL, March Madness, and NASCAR events.