After loudly declaring that ESPN is Disney’s overpriced “dark secret,” Altice USA has licensed every ESPN under the sun for its 2.4 million Optimum customers in the Northeast.
The cable operator released the official details of the last-minute deal it carved out with the media conglomerate over the weekend. The pact calls for Altice to provide its customers not only with ESPN and ESPN2, but also ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Bases Loaded and ESPN3.
Optimum will also add ESPN regional sports channel the SEC Network in late 2018, as well as the ACC Network when it launches in August 2019. The announcement said Disney and Altice will also collaborate on the much-ballyhooed ESPN direct-to-consumer platform, slated to launch early next year, with Disney leveraging Altice’s data analytics platform.
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It was not disclosed as to how much Altice will be paying to license the channels. The national average for the ESPN flagship network is $7.54 a subscriber, according to SNL Kagan.
Optimum customers will also continue to receive the ABC TV Network, Freeform, Disney Channel, Disney Junior and Disney XD. They’ll be able to stream these channels, as well as most ESPN networks, via TV Everywhere apps.
“Altice USA is focused on providing the highest quality video and service experience to our customers at a great value, and our successful arrangement with The Walt Disney Company ensures that our Optimum customers will continue to receive the programming they want at a reasonable cost,” said Michael Schreiber, executive VP and chief content officer for Altice USA, in a statement. “We are pleased with the value and terms agreed to and we thank our customers for their support while we worked on their behalf to reach a fair agreement.”