Disney and DirecTV have ended their 13-day carriage impasse, restoring ABC, ESPN and 14 other networks in time for Saturday college football games and Sunday night’s Emmy telecast.
While the return of linear service will come as a relief to millions of subscribers, the other terms of the agreement will no doubt catch the attention of the broader media industry as it contends with the complexities of the streaming era.
The parties agreed to bring to market “multiple genre-specific options” for slimmer bundles of channels at lower price points, though no specific prices or proposed channel lineups were mentioned in this morning’s press release. Those new offerings will span sports, entertainment, kids & family, with packages including Disney’s linear networks along with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming services…
