LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Spectrum Cable customers in the Louisville area will soon have ESPN and other Disney-owned channels restored.
Spectrum and Disney resolved their carriage dispute Monday morning, just hours before the first Monday Night Football game of the NFL season on ESPN. Disney pulled its channels from the Spectrum lineup the night of Aug. 31.
Disney CEO Robert A. Iger and Charter Communications CEO Chris Winfrey issued a joint statement just before noon.
"Our collective goal has always been to build an innovative model for the future," they said. "This deal recognizes both the continued value of linear television and the growing popularity of streaming services while addressing the evolving needs of our consumers. We also want to thank our mutual customers for their patience this past week and are pleased that Spectrum viewers once again have access to Disney’s high-quality sports, news and entertainment programming, in time for Monday Night Football."
Networks will be "immediately" stored, according to a news release.
Among the key points of the deal:
- In the coming months, the Disney+ Basic ad-supported offering will be provided to customers who purchase the Spectrum TV Select package, as part of a wholesale arrangement.
- ESPN+ will be provided to Spectrum TV Select Plus subscribers.
- The ESPN flagship direct-to-consumer service will be made available to Spectrum TV Select subscribers when it launches.
- Charter will maintain flexibility to offer a range of video packages at varying price points based upon different customer viewing preferences.
Spectrum is the second-largest cable provider in the US with about 15 million customers. Several big sporting events were unable to be seen locally, including the U.S. Open tennis tournament and several big college football games.
The impasse stemmed from disagreements regarding streaming. Spectrum wanted customers to have access to Disney streaming content at no extra cost and said Disney was blurring the lines between content on television and content on streaming platforms.
Other channels that were unavailable included Nat Geo, Disney Channel and FX Movie Channel.
You can also watch Monday night's game between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills on WHAS11.
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