Disney Is Leading the Debundling of Cable TV. Is It the Right Move for Shareholders?
At first glance, it might appear that Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS) and Charter Communications (NASDAQ: CHTR) ended their recent standoff the way most cable TV blackouts end -- the two companies agreed on a price each could live with, thus restoring Spectrum Cable subscribers' access to Disney's ESPN, ABC, and The Disney Channel.
This impasse did end differently than prior ones have, however. This time, not every Disney-owned cable channel came back to Spectrum's lineup. Namely, Baby TV, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FXM, FXX, Nat Geo Wild, and Nat Geo Mundo will no longer be offered to any Spectrum customers. It's still not the end of the world. These channels are among cable television's lesser watched, and generate fairly little revenue for Disney.
That's not the only noteworthy difference with this particular agreement though. This time, Spectrum's cable customers will also be getting gratis access to the ad-supported version of streaming service Disney+, and some Charter customers will even be provided access to ESPN+. Moreover, when it finally launches, the stand-alone version of sports-focused ESPN will be "made available" to Spectrum's customers. Charter's even going to be selling Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ to Charter's non-cable internet customers soon.
Source Fool.com
