Today, Comcast and the Walt Disney Company announced that they have renewed their content carriage agreement, which will allow Xfinity TV customers to continue enjoying the various Disney networks. The multi-year agreement includes the launch of the ACC Network for Xfinity customers.
The ACC Network was announced in 2016, and made its launch and 2019, and has been carried on most major cable, satellite, and streaming services, except for Xfinity. Disney owns 80% of the network, with Hearst Communications owning the remaining 20%. As the home of the Atlantic Coast Conference, the ACC Network carries over 1,300 events per year, which Xfinity TV customers can enjoy in the upcoming weeks.
“We’re very happy to extend our longstanding relationship with Comcast and continue to provide their Xfinity customers with Disney’s best-in-class programming,” said Sean Breen, Executive Vice President, Platform Distribution, Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution in the press release. “In addition to our news, sports and general entertainment offerings, the launch of the ACC Network in the coming weeks, paired with the renewal of the SEC Network, will give Xfinity’s college sports fans long-awaited access to their favorite games.”
Disney’s ESPN networks, Freeform, National Geographic channels, FX networks, and other Disney-branded channels were also included in the renewal. The SEC Network is the other major college sports conference that was included in the multi-year agreement. Retransmission consent for local ABC markets in New York (ABC7/WABC-TV), Chicago (ABC7/WLS-TV), Philadelphia (6ABC/WPVI-TV), San Francisco (ABC7/KGO-TV), Houston (ABC13/KTRK-TV), Raleigh-Durham (ABC11/WTVD-TV) and Fresno (ABC30/KFSN-TV). These 7 markets are ABC Owned Television Stations.
“We are very pleased to have reached this comprehensive agreement with Disney to continue providing Xfinity customers access to their content across our industry-leading platforms,” said Rebecca Heap, Senior Vice President, Consumer Products & Propositions, Comcast Cable.
The relationship between Disney and Comcast has been fruitful for both company’s this year. Earlier this year, Disney+ and ESPN+ were launched to Xfinity customers, which made the streaming platforms available for the first time to X1 and Flex customers.
The future between the two conglomerates is up in the air when it comes to Hulu. Comcast will have to decide whether to pull NBCUniversal content from the streaming service to help boost Peacock’s subscriber base. NBCU owns one-third of Hulu with Disney owning the remaining shares, however, NBCU has until 2022 to make a decision on migrating their content to Peacock, if not, they’ll have to wait until 2024.