Disney-Charter Dispute Settled: Report

LOS ANGELES, CA — The dispute between Disney and Charter Communications that led to ESPN, ABC and the Disney Channel to be pulled from Spectrum cable service has ended Monday prior to the Monday Night Football game between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills, CNBC is reporting.

The distribution dispute began on Aug. 31 when Spectrum dropped Disney- owned channels that included the ESPN networks, ABC, and Disney Channel content. It left nearly 15 million Spectrum subscribers without access to college football games, U.S. Open tennis matches, NFL, and Major League Baseball games broadcast on ESPN and ABC. Freeform, FX, FXX, and National Geographic were also pulled from Spectrum service.

The Monday Night Football games are broadcast on ESPN.

Representatives for Disney and Charter did not immediately respond to requests for comment, CNBC reported.

Terms of the deal are reported to include a discounted wholesale price for subscribers for Disney streaming services and an increase in marketplace, or subscribers fees, paid to Disney, CNBC reported.

Speaking during an investor conference Thursday, Charter CEO Chris Winfrey insisted that the company has "a sense of urgency to resolve" the dispute since its customers are "stuck in the middle." But he said no progress toward a deal had been made.

"If I had anything material to highlight, I would. So that should tell you something in terms of how we're doing," he said in remarks reported by The Wrap.

All Disney-owned channels were pulled from Spectrum at 5 p.m. Aug. 31 as the financial dispute over carriage fees reached the breaking point.

Charter officials said at the time that Disney was "demanding an excessive increase" in the amount the company pays to carry the entertainment giant's channels on the cable system. Disney insisted its demands are "driven by the marketplace."

In the days that followed, little movement occurred, suggesting the stalemate could extend for weeks. Winfrey suggested in earlier remarks that the dispute could foretell an end of Charter's interest in video services altogether, noting the growing impact of streaming services.

He reiterated that possibility during Thursday's investor call, noting that many customers looking to recover ESPN and other Disney programming have likely jumped to other services such as Hulu or YouTube TV, meaning the ones that remain with Spectrum would be the ones who wind up paying for the higher costs of the channels if an agreement is ultimately reached.

But he said Charter could also just move on from Disney and repackage its existing channel lineup packages for customers.

City News Service