ESPN access revoked… Disney and Spectrum parent Charter Communications are in a heated dispute over how much Charter should pay for Disney’s content. Disney recently pulled its channels (including cable lifeline ESPN) from Charter after their old deal expired, leaving 15M viewers without a way to watch sporting events like the US Open and college football. With the NFL season kicking off, both sides are doubling down.
The holdup: streaming. Charter wants Disney’s streamers (Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+) included in its deal as a bundle, since Disney has made its biggest content offerings available on those platforms. Disney said no.
At stake: Charter could lose viewers — ESPN alone made up over half of its top telecasts in the past year. Disney could lose big $$: TV viewers last year generated $28B for the Mouse House. Charter pays Disney $2.2B/year in programming costs.
Tense: Disney urged frustrated Spectrum customers to consider its Hulu with Live TV offering, while Charter offered users a discounted Fubo subscription rate.
Cord-cutting intensifies… Pay-TV services (including cable) lost another 1.7M+ US subscribers last quarter (-200K for Charter). Unable to snare streaming dollars, some companies are calling it quits on cable entirely. Charter says it’s reached a “point of indifference” on staying in TV and may focus on products like broadband internet. Smaller providers like Wow and Frontier have already cut TV service, offering YouTube TV instead. If a major player like Charter made the move, rivals like Comcast and Dish could follow.
Everyone wants a bigger slice of streaming… Charter is so determined to get Disney’s streamers included in the deal that it’s willing to lose huge channels like ESPN and ABC. At the same time, thousands of writers and actors are striking for better pay from streamers (the scribes have been out of work for 125+ days). And streamers themselves want a bigger slice of their own pie, hiking prices with their sights set on profitability.