• Mediaweek, Thursday, April 5, 2007 11:15 AM

Time Warner Cable and Disney Co. have closed on multi-year distribution deals that will cover the ESPN family of cable networks, along with the Disney Channel and ABC Family. As part of the pact, Time Warner will start carrying ESPN2 HD and ESPNU later this year while some systems will offer Disney Channel on Demand and ESPN Desportes.

Beginning next year, it will start running three new high-definition channels -- ABC Family HD, Disney Channel HD and ESPNEWS HD -- as they launch. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. Similar to a deal last November with Comcast, there is a retransmission consent provision that permits Time Warner to retransmit seven owned-and-operated ABC stations. The Comcast retrans deal is thought to be worth about $1 billion. No ESPN broadband properties were included in the deal and neither was college net ESPNU.

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