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Disney, Time Warner Cable Strike New Deal - Update

(RTTNews) - Walt Disney Co. (DIS) and cable operator Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) said Thursday that they have reached a new long-term expanded programming deal that will keep Disney's broadcast and cable channels on Time Warner Cable, ending several weeks of tense negotiations. Financial terms of the deal, reached after an early Thursday deadline, were not disclosed.

The deal includes new services for subscribers, including Disney Junior, ESPN3.com, ESPN Goal Line and expanded Video On Demand offerings.

However, both the companies ensured that ESPN, ABC and other channels were available on Time Warner Cable systems even as they continued talks on a new programming deal after the deadline passed. Otherwise, millions of Time Warner Cable subscribers in major cities like New York and Los Angeles would have lost access to their local ABC broadcast, ESPN channels and some Disney channels.

Under the new deal, Time Warner and Bright House Networks cable customers will gain access to programming of ABC Family, Disney Channel, Disney XD, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPNU, ESPN Classic, ESPN Deportes, and SOAPnet, as well as WABC in New York, KABC in Los Angeles, WTVD in Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville, WTVG in Toledo, and associated HD cable networks. Subscribers will also have digital access to online content and expanded Video On Demand services.

Time Warner has agreed to carry the recently-announced Disney Junior, a new 24-hour basic channel for preschool-age children, parents and caregivers, upon its debut in 2012.

ESPN3.com, ESPN's live sports broadband network, will be available to all Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks subscribers who get ESPN. Subscribers will also gain access to a new authenticated service and get the opportunity to watch the linear networks ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU through their broadband services as well as mobile Internet devices, like an iPad.

A new service called ESPN Goal Line, which was developed by Disney with Time Warner Cable, will be available only to Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks sports tier subscribers from September 4. The super-highlight channel will take fans around the best matchups each Saturday during the NCAA football season.

Under the deal, expanded Video On Demand services in many markets will include ABC On Demand, Disney-branded On Demand offerings for kids, locally relevant sports content from ESPN in several Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks markets, The subscription VOD service "Disney Family Movies and a new transactional VOD service for select content from the Disney/ABC Television Group.

Glenn Britt, Time Warner Cable's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, said, "We are pleased to have reached an agreement without any interruption in service. We thank our customers for their support, and we look forward to launching these new and innovative products and services."

Steve Miron, Chief Executive Officer of Bright House Networks, said, "We're pleased that an agreement has been reached with no disruption in programming for our customers."

The Disney-Time Warner Cable feud over programming fees marked the latest in a series of disputes between subscription television providers and media companies that own the TV networks they distribute into consumers' homes.

TV advertising, the main source of revenue for broadcast stations, was hit badly amid the recession as companies scaled back their budgets for TV advertising. This has prompted television networks to ask for a higher monthly fees per subscriber, but has met with stiff resistance from cable TV companies.

Time Warner Cable is the second-largest U.S. cable operator, with approximately 12.7 million TV subscribers and 9.3 million Internet subscribers in cities including New York and Los Angeles. Bright House Networks is the ninth-largest multichannel video programmer distributor in the US with 2.4 million customers in several large cities.

DIS closed Thursday's regular trading session at $33.91, up $0.40 or 1.19% on a volume of 7.03 million shares, while TWC closed trading at $54.70, up $0.72 or 1.33% on a volume of 1.80 million shares.