• by Wayne Friedman , September 1, 2023

Recognizing massive changes in linear TV business, Charter Communications suggests a radical change in when it comes to carriage deals with Walt Disney TV networks: Package Disney streaming/direct to consumer (D2C) apps inside linear cable TV bundles.

During a webcast on Friday, Charter -- the second-largest traditional pay TV network distributor -- positioned the “inclusion of ad supported DTV apps within our packaged linear products so the customer does not have to pay twice for similar programming”.

This would mean that Charter’s cable TV subscribers, for example, would not need to pay extra for Disney+ through a separate direct purchase with Disney.

Currently, Disney has a subscription streaming price tag of $7.99 a month (ad-supported option) and  $10.99 (no ads). Packages including Hulu and/or ESPN+ range from $9.99 to $12.99.

In addition, Charter recommends easier deal points with Disney when it comes to lower-penetration subscriber minimums, which will give “package flexibility for our customers.”

Charter believes this will help all linear TV business, including that of Walt Disney, provide “a glidepath to manage its migration package to a larger DTC business.” It believes all this will slow down linear TV losses -- subscription and ad revenue losses.

Also, it suggests a short-term carriage deal with Disney to give its customers more flexibility.

A “blackout” of some of Disney's 18 networks started on Thursday night, affecting 14.1 million residential Charter linear TV subscribers.

Disney representatives did not respond to Television News Daily inquires by press time.