The new multi-year agreement covers ABC, ESPN, KABC Los Angeles and more than 60 other services available to Cox customers both in and out of the home. In addition, WatchESPN, WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney XD and WATCH Disney Junior will launch this month to Cox customers.
Disney, Cox Set Multiplatform Carriage Deal
Cox Communications and The Walt Disney Co. on Thursday announced a comprehensive long-term distribution agreement to deliver Disney’s lineup of sports, news and entertainment content to Cox TV customers across televisions, computers, smartphones, tablets, gaming consoles and Internet-enabled televisions. Disney and Cox said the new early renewal agreement “enhances the multichannel business model and supports the companies’ common goal to deliver the best video content to customers across multiple platforms.”
In total, approximately 70 services are covered by the broad scope of this agreement, including ABC, ABC Family, ABC News/Univision Joint Venture, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN Deportes, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Buzzer Beater, ESPN 3D, ESPN GamePlan, ESPN Full Court, ESPN3, Longhorn Network and retransmission consent for KABC Los Angeles, as well as more than 10 high-definition networks.
As part of the new multi-year agreement, WatchESPN (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, ESPN Goal Line and ESPN Buzzer Beater) launches today as the first of Disney’s existing authenticated products being made available to Cox customers. Additional authenticated products including WATCH Disney Channel, WATCH Disney XD and WATCH Disney Junior will launch next week. The to-be-launched WATCH ABC and WATCH ABC Family services will also be made available to Cox customers. These products will give Cox customers more opportunities to access live and video-on-demand content, both in-home and out of home, on their computers, smartphones, tablets and gaming consoles.
The companies also announced that ESPNEWS and ESPN Classic will be added to Cox TV Connect, Cox’s proprietary app that allows customers to watch live TV on the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch from anywhere in their homes. Cox is increasing the number of channels on Cox TV Connect to 90, starting Monday, Dec. 17.
“This comprehensive agreement with The Walt Disney Company enhances the value of our customers’ experience with our products and services,” said Mark Greatrex, Cox Communications SVP, chief marketing and sales officer. “Coupled with our investment in our broadband network and the development of innovative services like Cox TV Connect and TV Online, we’re enabling our customers to access their favorite news, sports and entertainment video content whenever and wherever they want it.”
Added David Preschlack, EVP, affiliate sales and marketing, Disney & ESPN Networks Group: “This deal renewal with Cox marks the fifth agreement encompassing Disney’s full suite of products and services while strengthening the value of the multichannel subscription model. We are serving viewers by delivering 24/7 live access to our content via the WATCH Disney services and WatchESPN across more platforms than ever before, which is quickly becoming the new standard in content delivery.”
BRAND CONNECTIONS
The extensive and expanded rights package for video-on-demand content to Cox TV customers includes: ABC On Demand, ABC Family On Demand, Disney Channel On Demand, Disney Junior On Demand and Disney XD On Demand. A variety of Disney Channel Original Movies will also be available as will expanded On Demand content from ESPN, including content from ESPN Deportes and ESPN’s award-winning original content from ESPN Films.
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