Comcast, Disney Sign Deals for VOD, Channel Carriage, E!

NEW YORK, November
22: Walt Disney Company and Comcast have wrapped up deals that encompass
placing Disney content on Comcast’s VOD service, carriage of Disney’s channels
on Comcast cable systems, and the final sale of E! Networks to Comcast,
according to reports.

Per one
wide-ranging pact, Disney will provide content from its ABC broadcast network
plus its cable channels like ESPN, Toon Disney and SoapNet for Comcast’s free
VOD service starting in the fall of 2007. The agreement also secures carriage
for Disney’s cable channels on Comcast systems. Additional terms were not
disclosed, other than the fact that the deal will continue “into the next
decade.”

Announced at the
same time: Comcast is taking full control of E! Networks by paying $1.23
billion for Disney’s 39.5-percent stake in the entertainment channel.

In a statement,
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts called the VOD and carriage agreement a “watershed
event.” Disney president and CEO Robert Iger said, "This is one of the
broadest distribution agreements in the history of our company."

Disney programs to
be offered to Comcast viewers on a free VOD basis include Desperate
Housewives, Lost, several news programs, plus two unnamed shows
scheduled to debut next season. The shows will carry advertising and will only
be available where Disney owns the local ABC station.

Movies from
Disney’s film studios will also be available via VOD for $2.99 to $3.99 apiece,
according the reports. This includes films from Walt Disney Pictures, Miramax
Films and Touchstone Pictures. Certain titles will be available as early as two
weeks after their DVD retail release.