The deal gives a way to reach consumers online who are tired of paying so much for cable, and creates a possible strong competitor to Netflix, says Bloomberg's Paul Sweeney.

Some people think a new pact between Disney and Dish hastens a time when Dish will start a new over the top service. But if there is going to be a new service selling TV over the Web, for now, it's going to look like the pay TV services already out there.

Hulu has named Tim Connolly, former Disney exec, as  its new head of distribution, replacing Eric Yellin, who left to join Whisper, a new social-messaging site.

The Watch ABC app live-streamed the Oscars  in eight markets where it owns stations--New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Philadelphia among them--but it  crashed part way through the telecast. ABC said it was back up by 10:45 pm.  

Ad platform  FreeWheel, one of the biggest distributors of ad content online and off, will be acquired by Comcast for $320 million, say several news accounts.  FreeWheel is one of the largest platforms used by TV networks and major video distributors to serve ads alongside their content online. Recently, it also signed with Amazon to begin serving ads alongside its streaming videos.