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Last week, Charter Communications, the No. 2 cable provider, and Walt Disney Co. cut a deal to include Disney streaming services, such as Disney+ and a new ESPN service still in the works, with Charter’s cable television packages. That pact could be a watershed for traditional TV gatekeepers that want a piece of the action from the streaming services they’ve grown to fear. Medium Voltage Power Cables
Charter urgently wanted a deal in place for Disney-owned ESPN—the most important cable network in the TV ecosystem—because it believed such a deal would help it reach similar arrangements with the operators of other streaming services, one person with knowledge of Charter’s thinking said. In the coming years, Charter plans to negotiate with other TV programmers following the framework of the Disney deal, including Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount and NBCUniversal, people with direct knowledge of the matter said.
OPPC Cable Disney, for its part, has received inquiries from other TV distributors about potential deals for Disney+ and ESPN following the announcement of the Charter agreement, said other people with direct knowledge of the matter. Meanwhile, Verizon—which already offers a streaming bundle of Netflix, Paramount+ and Showtime at a discounted price to its wireless and broadband customers—is exploring similar deals with other streaming services, said Erin McPherson, senior vice president and chief content officer at Verizon.