Disney and Charter Communications have resolved their 10-day deadlock, bringing an end to the outage that left subscribers of the second-largest cable operator in the US, Spectrum, without access to ESPN and other channels. Spectrum, with 14.7 million members, is only surpassed by Comcast in terms of subscriber count, thus impacting a significant number of people.
In a recent development, ESPN has been reinstated for Spectrum users just prior to Monday Night Football. However, as part of the agreement between Disney and Charter Communications, eight channels owned by Disney will no longer be available on Spectrum.
Starting from the fragment "Networks no longer carried by Spectrum going forward," the rewritten version is as follows:
Spectrum will no longer include certain networks in its lineup, including Baby TV, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FXM, FXX, Nat Geo Wild, and Nat Geo Mundo (via Deadline).
Disney CEO Bob Iger and Charter CEO Chris Winfrey acknowledged in a joint statement that the agreement acknowledges the ongoing significance of traditional television and the increasing popularity of streaming services, thus meeting the changing requirements of their consumers.
The impasse started on August 31 when Spectrum removed 19 Disney-owned cable networks and eight ABC stations. This was a major disappointment for sports fans, as they were unable to watch important events like the US Open in tennis and various college football games.
Another important aspect of the agreement is that Spectrum TV Select members will receive the ad-supported version of Disney+ at no extra charge. Additionally, ESPN+ will be included in the Spectrum TV Select Plus package. Disney and Charter have announced plans for a larger direct-to-consumer service by ESPN in the coming years, which will also be accessible to Spectrum TV Select subscribers.
Disney and Charter have announced their collaboration in combatting password sharing, aiming to protect their valuable business models. Both companies have emphasized their dedication to leading the industry in mitigating the consequences of unauthorized password sharing.
