Media company Altice USA has struck a new carriage deal with Disney covering the latter’s portfolio of channels, including sports broadcaster ESPN.
The length of the agreement and the financial details were not disclosed.
Altice had previously suggested that Disney was charging too much for ESPN, but Michael Schreiber, executive vice-president and chief content officer at Altice USA, said that a “fair agreement” had been reached.
Under the deal, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Bases Loaded and ESPN3, as well as other general entertainment channels, will be available via Altice’s Optimum cable-television service. Altice USA operates across 21 US states, including New York and Connecticut.
ESPN’s SEC Network, dedicated to the Southeastern Conference, will be added to Optimum in late 2018. ACC Network, which will provide coverage of the Atlantic Coast Conference, will replace another unnamed ESPN channel on the line-up in August 2019.
The two companies have also agreed to collaborate on the launch of ESPN’s direct-to-consumer service, which is expected to debut early next year, with the platform set to be supported by Altice USA’s data analytics.