WASHINGTON—The Walt Disney Co.’s ABC-owned stations called a Federal Communications Commission order that they file early license renewals “unlawful, arbitrary, and unconstitutional.”

In a letter attached to one of the license renewals, submitted on May 28, ABC-owned WABC-TV New York noted that the “Commission had not demanded early renewal in over five decades. And it has never before demanded simultaneous license renewal applications from a group of stations commonly owned with a network as it has here.”

“The Order is inconsistent with a legitimate exercise of investigative authority and is plainly incompatible with the First Amendment,” the letter said. “Worse, the Order opens the door to an assault on the Station’s license, while the Commission searches for a legal pretext to achieve its desired goal. This effort to suppress speech under the guise of bureaucratic process must not prevail. WABC files this application without waiving any rights, and calls on the Commission to rescind the Order.”

As previously reported, the FCC issued an order in late April requiring Disney’s ABC-owned stations must file for an early license renewal by May 28. The order referred to FCC’s ongoing investigation of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies at Disney but it follows months of comments by President Donald Trump and FCC Chair Brendan Carr suggesting that the stations should lose their licenses over comments made by network late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

In its May 28 letter to the FCC, Disney's WABC alleged that the Commission's investigation into DEI was simply a pretext "to punish the Station for speech the government does not like."

The May 28 filings by Disney’s ABC-owned stations came on the same day that the FCC issued a public notice asserting wide-ranging powers to regulate broadcast content under the rubric of “public interest” standards. Those public interest standards include the requirement that "broadcasters are also prohibited from engaging in news distortion," the agency insisted.

In response to the FCC’s claim that legal precedent allows it to regulate news content, the Commission’s lone Democrat, Commissioner Anna Gomez, asserted: “The ‘public interest’ does not mean this administration's interests. Broadcasters should ignore these latest threats and stiffen their spine.“

Gomez also blasted the FCC’s order requiring Disney to file for early renewal of its broadcast licenses. “Disney and its ABC stations are the latest victims of this administration's campaign of censorship and control,” she said. “I am glad to see them expose the FCC's actions as nothing more than naked political retribution and an unlawful assault on free speech and a free press.”

Disney also faces a separate FCC investigation into possible violations of equal time rules for political candidates by "The View". In response to that investigation, ABC filed a sternly worded petition earlier this month arguing that the “Commission’s actions threaten to upend decades of settled law and practice and chill critical protected speech, both with respect to ‘The View’ and more broadly.”

WABC-TV’s May 28 letter filed a number of similar arguments regarding free speech and censorship. More specifically, the station questioned the validity of the FCC's DEI investigation into Disney, which prompted the order demanding early license renewal applications.

Before tne order was issued, the letter noted, the Enforcement Bureau had already served a string of inquiries and Disney had produced more than 11,000 pages of documents on a mutually agreed schedule without hearing any complaints from the FCC on its compliance.

“It is not credible to now declare the early renewal process `essential' to the same investigation, particularly when after releasing the Order, the Enforcement Bureau issued yet another request for information to which the Company is required to respond less than 24 hours after the instant filing,” the letter said. “The early renewal procedure is not an investigative tool and adds nothing to the Commission’s investigative capacity.”

The letter also strongly pushes back against possible discriminatory behavior at the ABC stations.

“The Order purports to investigate `possible violations' of the `prohibition on unlawful discrimination,' but never identifies what violation it had in mind,” the letter said. “The Commission has never articulated—let alone adopted through notice-and-comment rulemaking—any new compliance standard under its broadcast Equal Employment Opportunity (“EEO”) requirements, which focus on non-discrimination and providing access to opportunities for those from underrepresented groups. It has never stated whether or when diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”) practices violate a Commission rule or warrant ordinary punishment, much less the extraordinary punishment of a demand for early license renewal A licensee cannot comply with a standard that is announced nowhere, defined nowhere, and exists nowhere.”

“In truth, the Station has acted consistently with the Commission’s EEO requirements,” the station said. “Yet it is now being punished under an interpretation the Commission invented but has never promulgated or even fully articulated—one that turns the longstanding EEO rules on their head. A licensee cannot be held to a standard it was never given notice of—that is not enforcement, it is arbitrary, capricious, and a denial of due process. And even if the Commission were to eventually declare that the Station committed an EEO rule violation—a finding that the Station in no way concedes—jeopardizing the Station’s license would be grossly disproportionate to any such violation, especially one premised on an unarticulated standard.

“The only plausible reason to issue the Order is to punish the Station for speech the government does not like,” the letter concluded. “Commissioner Gomez recognized in her May 11, 2026 letter what the record makes plain: The Commission’s actions against Disney and ABC constitute ‘not a series of coincidental regulatory actions but a sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control, carried out through the weaponization of the FCC’s authority as a federal regulator and aimed at pressuring a free and independent press and all media into submission.’ This is not a partisan point. Senator Ted Cruz [R-Texas] called one of Chairman Carr’s threats to broadcasters ‘dangerous as hell’ and warned that “[g]overnment officials threatening adverse consequences for disfavored content is an unconstitutional coercion that chills protected speech.’”

The filings can be found here, with WABC-TV’s letter to the FCC objecting to the early renewal at the bottom of the page.

The Walt Disney Co. announced today that it is acquiring a majority stake in streaming service Fubo TV and combining it with its Hulu + Live TV MVPD service, resulting in a combined U.S. subscriber base of 6.2 million. The combined business will operate under the Fubo publicly traded company name and be led by the current management team; Fubo and Hulu + Live TV will continue to be available to consumers as separate offerings.

Under the terms of the definitive agreement, at closing Disney will own about 70% of Fubo. Fubo’s existing management team, led by Fubo Co-founder and CEO David Gandler, will operate the newly combined Fubo and Hulu + Live TV businesses.

The merger puts an end to a contentious period between the two companies in which Fubo has battled Disney over what it views as unfair competition from Disney’s collaboration with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery on the new Venu streaming service. A judge halted the launch of Venu last August over antitrust concerns.

As part of the deal, the two companies said they have settled all litigation. Disney has also inked a new carriage agreement with Fubo that will allow Fubo to create a new Sports & Broadcast service, featuring Disney’s sports and broadcast networks including ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, SEC Network, ACC Network and ESPNEWS, as well as ESPN+. The combined company will negotiate carriage agreements with content providers for both Hulu + Live TV and Fubo services independently from Disney.

But it didn’t come without a cost: As part of the deal, Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery will make an aggregate cash payment to Fubo of $220 million. In addition, Disney has committed to provide a $145 million term loan to Fubo in 2026 as part of the transaction.

Additionally, a termination fee of $130 million will be payable to Fubo under certain circumstances, including if the transaction fails to close due to the failure to obtain requisite regulatory approvals on the terms and conditions set forth in the definitive agreement.

Although the merger will provide a subscriber boost, Hulu + Live TV will still rank behind YouTube TV in terms of subscribers. YouTube TV most recently reported about 8 million subscribers, but that was a year ago and does not reflect the affect of last month’s $10 rate hike will have on numbers going forward. YouTube TV now costs $83 per month while a subscription to Hulu + Live TV (which also includes Hulu original content, something YouTube does not), ranges between $82 and $95 per month.

The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals, Fubo shareholder approval, and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with Disney to create a consumer-first streaming company that combines the strengths of the Fubo and Hulu + Live TV brands,” Gandler said. “This combination enables us to deliver on our promise to provide consumers with greater choice and flexibility. Additionally, this agreement allows us to scale effectively, strengthens Fubo’s balance sheet and positions us for positive cash flow. It’s a win for consumers, our shareholders, and the entire streaming industry.”

Added Disney Executive Vice President and Head of Corporate Development Justin Warbrooke: “This combination will allow both Hulu + Live TV and Fubo to enhance and expand their virtual MVPD offerings and provide consumers with even more choice and flexibility. We have confidence in the Fubo management team and their ability to grow the business, delivering high-quality offerings that serve subscribers with the content they want and offering great value.”

ATLANTA—Gray Television says it has renewed with The Walt Disney Co., the network affiliations for all of Gray’s ABC affiliated television stations across 25 markets through the end of 2024.

“We are pleased to announce the further extension of our decades-long relationship with Disney for ABC station affiliations,” said Gray’s President and Co-CEO, Pat LaPlatney. “These agreements recognize our ABC affiliates’ commitment to public service and will help them continue to serve their communities.”

“We are excited to continue our strong and well-established collaboration with Gray Television,” said John Rouse, EVP, Affiliate Relations, The Walt Disney Company. “These stations are leaders in their communities, and we are proud to have ABC’s unrivaled network programming paired with Gray’s local programming and community commitment.”

Financial terms were not disclosed.

SAN FRANCISCO—YouTube TV subscribers in several states have filed a class action lawsuit against The Walt Disney Co., claiming that the media giant uses its ownership of Hulu and ESPN to jack up subscription prices. 

The suit (Biddle v. The Walt Disney Co, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, No. 22-cv-0731) was filed in San Francisco on Friday and represents subscribers from California, Arizona, Indiana and Kentucky. It alleges that language in Disney’s carriage agreements with SLPTVs (streaming live pay television) stipulates that their lowest price bundles must include ESPN and that Disney’s “Most Favored Nation” clauses put upward price pressures on every rival SLPTV service, something that has contributed to nearly doubling the subscription price to YouTube TV from $35 to $65 since 2019.  

“Together, these carriage agreement mandates—which now cover all of Disney’s leading competitors in the SLPTV Market—allow Disney to use ESPN and Hulu to set a price floor in the SLPTV Market and to inflate prices marketwide by raising the prices of its own products,” the plaintiffs claim in their lawsuit. “Since Disney acquired operational control over Hulu in May 2019, prices across the SLPTV Market, including for YouTube TV, have doubled.” 

“This dramatic, marketwide price inflation has been led by Disney’s own price hikes for Hulu + Live TV, and has directly tracked Disney’s competitor-by-competitor negotiation of new SLPTV carriage agreements over this time period."

The lawsuit states that subscribers "paid prices for their YouTube TV subscriptions that were higher than they would have been absent Disney's anticompetitive conduct," adding that approximately 5 million YouTube TV subscribers are paying “anticompetitive inflated” subscriptions.

The plaintiffs noted that when YouTube TV owner Alphabet carriage negotiated new carriage agreements in late 2021, YouTube TV publicly stated that absent its agreement with Disney, it would provide an ESPN-less base plan at $15 less than it otherwise charged for its baseline product. No such lower tier based plan without ESPN is available currently however.

Although no monetary damages have been specified, the plaintiffs lawyers are asking the court to issue an injunction allowing them to decline "base bundles with ESPN and related Disney-controlled channels." 

With the rise in popularity of SLPTVs (also known as "virtual multichannel video program distributors or vMVPDs) in recent years, services such as YouTube TV, Hulu+ with Live TV and Sling TV have gone out of their way to mimic the traditional cable TV bundles right down to the EPGs. But such familiarity can breed contempt when it comes to negotiations between traditional TV networks and streaming services that are more used to doing things the way they do in Silicon Valley.

As the similarities between traditional pay TV bundles and vMVPDs become more apparent, so do the battles for carriage and the resulting price increases. With broadcasters pressuring the FCC to treat vMVPDs more like traditional pay-TV services, lawsuits such as these could help shape the future of retransmission negotiations. 

BURBANK, Calif.—The Walt Disney Co. announced Sunday that it has appointed Robert Iger as its CEO for the next two years, replacing Bob Chapek, effective immediately. Iger, who spent more than four decades at Disney, including 15 years as its CEO, before being replaced by Chapek in 2020, has agreed to serve for two years, with a mandate from the Board “to set the strategic direction for renewed growth and to work closely with the Board in developing a successor to lead the Company at the completion of his term,” the company said. 

Although Disney earlier this month reported that its Disney+ streaming service is now the leader in number of subscribers worldwide with more than 164 million, the service, which launched in 2019 to great fanfare, has yet to turn a profit, losing $1.5 billion in its most recent quarter alone. The company expects its DTC streaming division, which also includes ESPN+ and Hulu, to be profitable by 2024 and is launching an ad-supported version of Disney+ next month, announcing last week that it had already lined up more than 100 advertisers. 

During Iger’s tenure from 2005 to 2020, he led the acquisitions of Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm and 21st Century Fox and increased the company’s market capitalization fivefold during his time as CEO. He stepped down as Executive Chairman of the board a year ago.

Disney’s stock jumped on the announcement and analyst Steve Cahill noted that Iger’s return was a positive development for the company.

“While Chapek's departure is not a surprise due to recent turmoil and the stock's decline, Iger's resurgence is a positive surprise. Iger will be viewed as a catalyst to improve the content aspects of Disney, and we expect bigger potential strategic changes around the long-term shape of DTC," Cahall said. "While the announcement doesn't solve all of Disney's problems, we think investors will embrace it as it puts perhaps the best leader in Media at the helm with a mandate to shake things up." 

MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson responded to Iger’s return, saying “the magic is back.” Nathanson added that he had never fully had confidence that Chapek would be successful after taking over the helm during the early days of the pandemic. 

“With limited experience on the media side of Disney, Mr. Chapek had done an expert job in managing Disney’s parks through the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, but he appeared anchored to the streaming strategy laid out in the December 2020 Investor Day which had created, we felt, unrealistically high subscriber targets without a grasp for the underlying return on investment,” he said after the announcement.

Disney thanked Chapek for his service but noted that Iger will help guide the company through challenging times ahead with the potential of a global recession—which has already impacted DTC streaming subscription levels—prompting Netflix, Disney+’s chief rival, to crack down on password sharing and launch a competing ad-supported tier.

“We thank Bob Chapek for his service to Disney over his long career, including navigating the company through the unprecedented challenges of the pandemic,” said Susan Arnold, Chairman of the Board. “The Board has concluded that as Disney embarks on an increasingly complex period of industry transformation, Bob Iger is uniquely situated to lead the Company through this pivotal period.”

“Mr. Iger has the deep respect of Disney’s senior leadership team, most of whom he worked closely with until his departure as executive chairman 11 months ago, and he is greatly admired by Disney employees worldwide–all of which will allow for a seamless transition of leadership,” she said.

“I am extremely optimistic for the future of this great company and thrilled to be asked by the Board to return as its CEO,” Mr. Iger said. “Disney and its incomparable brands and franchises hold a special place in the hearts of so many people around the globe—most especially in the hearts of our employees, whose dedication to this company and its mission is an inspiration. I am deeply honored to be asked to again lead this remarkable team, with a clear mission focused on creative excellence to inspire generations through unrivaled, bold storytelling.”

LONDON—Disney has firmly established itself as the leading media company in the world, with the numbers to back it up. According to TradingPlatforms.com, Disney now has more than $200 billion in total assets, more than four times the amount of the next largest media company.

In 2020, Disney recorded assets of nearly $201 billion, the first time that it has crossed the $200 billion mark. Disney’s assets include its animation studio, live-action film and TV production, theme parks and, most recently, its streaming services.

While Disney was already the leading media company prior to the launch of Disney+, the addition of the streaming service has been key in Disney reaching its latest heights. Disney+ recently hit 100 million global subscribers, four years ahead of its initial expected pace.

In 2019, when Disney+ launched, the company saw its total assets grow 97% year-over-year, from $98.6 billion to $193.98 billion. From 2016-2020, Disney saw a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17%.

The closest media company to Disney is Vivendi, which has about $42 billion in total assets. Netflix, while topping Disney+ in subscribers, is far behind in total assets at $27 billion.

Compared to the largest companies in the world, Disney ranks 15th on the S&P 500, as of February 2021, with an estimated market cap of $320 billion.

For more information, visit www.TradingPlatforms.com. 

BURBANK, Calif.—Just about 16 months after launching, Disney+ has officially surpassed 100 million global paid subscribers. Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Chapek shared the news during Disney’s virtual Annual Meeting of Shareholders on March 9.

 Disney+ launched on Nov. 12, 2019. Today, it is available in 59 countries across North America, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Latin America and most recently Singapore. At the end of 2020, Disney reported that the streaming service had reached 95 million paid subscribers. 

The growth of Disney+ has far exceeded expectations. Prior to the service’s launch, Digital TV Research projected it wouldn’t hit 100 million global subscribers until 2025. Now, thanks in large part to buzz-worthy content like “The Mandalorian,” “Hamilton,” “WandaVision” and Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Fox and National Geographic library content, that projection has been bested by nearly four years.

Disney+ now joins Netflix and Amazon Prime Video as streaming services that have more than 100 million global paid subscribers. Netflix reported that it surpassed 200 million subscribers in January, while Amazon has a reported global subscriber base of around 150 million. 

“The enormous success of Disney+—which has now surpassed 100 million subscribers—has inspired us to be even more ambitious, and to significantly increase our investment in the development of high-quality content,” said Chapek. “In fact, we set a target of 100-plus new titles per year, and this includes Disney Animation, Disney Live Action, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic. Our direct-to-consumer business is the company’s top priority, and our robust pipeline of content will continue to fuel its growth.”

NEW YORK—ABC would be back in the lineup of Super Bowl broadcasters if a new media rights deal between the NFL and The Walt Disney Company is agreed to, according to reports.

Sports Business Journal reports that the NFL and Disney have reached a broad agreement for a new rights deal, which would keep “Monday Night Football” on ESPN and have ABC once again broadcast the Super Bowl, something the network has not done since 2006. While a deal is not done, SBJ cites sources that one is “very close at hand.”

The terms of the deal would see Disney pay around $2.6 billion for the right to broadcast "MNF" games and use NFL highlights for in-house studio shows. That equates to about a 30% increase from the current deal Disney has with the league. The NFL said SBJ’s report was incorrect and ESPN declined to comment.

The broadcast deals for CBS, Fox and NBC are also being redone ahead of their expiration in 2022, but all Sunday games are expected to remain as they have been in recent years with these networks. While CBS, Fox and NBC will see increases in their rights fees, SBJ says that Disney still will pay more for its package.

For more information, read SBJ’s full story. 

The evolving TV business “is not a passive sport, it’s an active sport,” said Joe Inzerillo. From his first job for the Chicago White Sox (where he handled broadcasting and other business affairs) through Major League Baseball (and its MLB Advanced Media unit), Inzerillo has blazed through roles in the fast-changing world to media technology. 

Now he oversees the technology aspects of streaming services Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, but he remembers the “early days” just 15 years ago.

“We were so early that we were making it up as we went,” Inzerillo said, calling the process “exciting but terrifying.”

During his Chicago days Inzerillo worked at the United Center (home of the Bulls and the Blackhawks), where he handled broadcast and telecommunications. When he became CTO of Major League Baseball in New York, he already had streaming video experience as well as a broadcast TV background — a useful combo when he launched MLB.tv, the first over-the-top sports package. 

At MLB, Inzerillo oversaw technology development for BamTech Media, which powered MLB’s streaming service, as well as managed internet rights for all 30 MLB teams. Bamtech licensed its technology for delivering digital content and applications to sports entertainment clients such as ESPN and World Wrestling Entertainment. When The Walt Disney Co. (parent of ESPN) bought Bamtech in 2017, Inzerillo moved to Disney.  

Inzerillo credits “learning by failure,” making mistakes in order to gain valuable experiences. And he’s happy that “a lot of those happened before anyone else was paying attention.”

Given his media technology portfolio, Inzerillo expects that video will continue to expand.

“Just because the streaming business is booming doesn’t mean prior media will go away; it’s nowhere near tapped out,” he said. He is especially enthusiastic about “group watch,” a system that makes it more engaging for viewers to share a “communal experience” even though they are watching programs from different locations.

Inzerillo still loves the technology, citing the in-camera special effect used for the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian.”  

“That kind of technology creates immersive effects to put people into places [in the story],” Inzerillo said. “That’s the most extraordinary development, letting you think about storytelling in a much different way.”

BURBANK, Calif.—This week’s news that Bob Chapek has been named Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company following former CEO Robert Iger’s decision to step down after 15 years took many by surprise, but did nothing to disrupt the confidence analysts have placed in the entertainment juggernaut.

“I was surprised by the timing of it, but I wasn’t shocked,” said Steve Nason, research director at Parks Associates. “The average CEO lifespan is five to seven years, so he was in that position for a relatively long time.”

With the company reporting “large, aggressive numbers” during its latest earnings call driven largely by Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ subscriptions, Iger had the opportunity to step down as CEO on a high note, he said.

“Obviously, they were able to tout these really large numbers due to the bundle of those three services, and also because of the relatively low price of Disney+ compared to competitors and its library of content. So he was really able to go out with a feather in his cap,” said Nason.

Morningstar is maintaining its fair value estimate of $141 per share on Disney despite the leadership move. However, the timing of the change was a surprise for the statistical rating service.

In a note to investors, Morningstar CFA Neil Macker said competition for the CEO spot between Chapek and Kevin Mayer, head of the direct-to-consumer and international segment, was expected to last at least till the end of the year.

“Despite the timing surprise, we believe that Chapek will continue to run the Iger playbook at least over the near term as Iger focuses on the creative direction of Disney,” he wrote. 

Parks’ Nason agrees. “On the entertainment services side of it, I think they will continue to be in an acquisition mode, and I am sure he [Chapek] will be involved with that in terms of the strategic direction of acquiring different content pieces to bring under the Disney umbrella,” he said.

Chapek, who most recently was chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, will oversee each of the company’s business segments and corporate functions and report directly to Iger and the company’s board of directors, according to Disney.

Speaking with Jenny Priestley of sister publication TVBEurope, Alice Enders, head of research at Enders Analysis, said she too was surprised and “a bit gobsmacked by his departure after no warning at all.”

Despite the change, Disney’s future looks bright, she said. “The company has a trio of assets derived from its IP to exploit [Lucasfilm, Pixar and Marvel (updated)], a brand new story to tell shareholders in Disney+, and its acquisitions have stuffed the company with loads of talent,” she is quoted as saying.   

Iger, whose contract with the company runs through Dec. 31, 2021, will direct Disney’s creative endeavors and lead the board of directors as executive chairman. 

In a statement announcing his departure as CEO, Iger attributed the timing of his decision to “the successful launch of Disney’s direct-to-consumer businesses” and the fact that the integration of Twenty-First Century Fox is “well underway,” making now “the optimal time to transition to a new CEO.” 

Iger has set a high bar for Chapek, or anyone else, to shoot for, said Nason. 

“During his career, he’s had enormous accomplishments,” he said. “On the entertainment services side [there’s] the acquisition of Pixar, LucasFilms, Marvel, Twentieth Century Fox—just incredible acquisitions—that have added to the breadth of content they are able to offer.”

“Then obviously they have launched ESPN+ in the last year or so. They took over full ownership of Hulu recently. Just massive, massive success stories. For him, it was the perfect time to step away and be involved in the board in some other way,” said Nason.

BURBANK, Calif.—In less than three months since its initial launch on Nov. 12, 2019, Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger revealed that the Disney+ streaming service has 28.6 million subscribers as of Feb. 3.

The Disney+ streaming service was created as the new streaming home for classic Disney, Marvel, National Geographic and Star Wars content, as well as new original programming, like the popular Star Wars spin-off “The Mandalorian.”

Currently, Disney+ is available in the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. It is slated to expand to markets across Western Europe—the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Spain. Austria and Switzerland—on March 24 and in India on March 29; additional Western European markets will add the service in summer 2020. Expansion into Latin America is expected in 2021.

“We believe the subscriber growth to date and the overall reaction to Disney+ reflects a variety of factors that includes the uniqueness of the service, an excellent user interface and the high quality of our brands and content,” said Iger during an earnings call. Iger said that the success of Disney+ exceeded the company’s expectations.

Part of Disney+’s strategy with its launch was to also provide Disney+ for free to new Verizon customers for a year, as well as traditional free trials. Iger also noted that conversions of free to pay subscribers and churn were better than the company initially predicted.

Iger also took time to during the call to announce premiere dates for new original programming, including Marvel’s “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” (August) and “WandaVision” (December), as well as the second season of “The Mandalorian” (October).

Disney also released subscriber information for its other streaming platforms, Hulu and ESPN+. As of Feb. 3, Hulu had 30.7 million subscribers and ESPN+ had 7.6 million.

BURBANK, Calif.—Disney+ is only a little more than 24 hours old, but it’s been quite the start for the brand new streaming service. The much anticipated platform that features Disney classics, Marvel and Star Wars movies as well as original programming exceeded even The Walt Disney Company’s expectations with first-day sign ups, but with that came a few bumps in the road.

DownDetector, a company that tracks outages for telecom and streaming companies, registered more than 8,000 trouble reports early morning on Nov. 12 in the U.S., Canada and the Netherlands. Some subscribers weren’t able to login, experienced playability issues and some were not able to access all or specific content.

“The consumer demand for Disney+ has exceeded our high expectations,” Disney said in a statement. “We are pleased by this incredible response and are working to quickly resolve the current user issues. We appreciate your patience.”

Most of Tuesday afternoon saw a decrease in reported issues to under 1,000, according to DownDetector, though it peaked over 2,000 around 8 p.m. As of Wednesday morning, fewer than 300 issues were being reported.

Beyond subscribers’ ability to access the new streaming service, it also saw its first instance of pirating. After concerns were expressed about pirating of Disney+’s original content, specifically the Star Wars series “The Mandalorian,” it came to fruition as the first episodes of “The Mandalorian” were pirated within three hours of the platform’s launch, according to Comparitech.

Most of the torrenting of the show came from Spain and the U.K.—countries that will not see the launch of Disney+ until 2020—though some originated in the U.S. and Canada.

BURBANK, Calif.—The Walt Disney Company and Charter Communications have come to terms on a new multi-year distribution agreement that will continue to provide Disney’s TV content to Charter’s Spectrum customers, as well as expand its offerings with new channels and potential access to streaming services.

Through the agreement, Spectrum customers will continue to have access to ABC, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, ESPNU, ESPNNews, ESPN Deportes, ESPN Goal Line, ESPN Bases Loaded, SEC Network, Longhorn Network and FX, FXX, FXM, Fox Life, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo and BabyTV, all of which were brought under the Disney banner during the recent Fox acquisition.

Spectrum customers will also receive the new ACC Network channel when it becomes available on Aug. 22.

Also discussed within the agreement was the potential for Charter to distribute Disney’s streaming services, which include Hulu, ESPN+ and the upcoming Disney+, and collaborations between the two companies to work on issues like piracy mitigation, unauthorized access and password sharing.

“This agreement will allow Spectrum to continue delivering to its customers popular Disney content, makes possible future distribution by Spectrum of Disney streaming services, and will begin an important collaborative effort to address significant issue of piracy mitigation,” said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president of Programming Acquisition for Charter.

The financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

WASHINGTON—Three of the Democratic candidates for president are weighing in on the proposed Sinclair Broadcast Group purchase of 21 regional sports networks from Disney (formerly owned under the Fox banner). Senators Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), Bernie Sanders (VT) and Corey Booker (N.J.) have co-signed a letter to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and Department of Justice Assistant Attorney General Mark Delrahim asking the two organizations to look at the proposed deal.

“Given Sinclair’s market power in the local television broadcasting industry and its continued push ‘to inject conversative-tinged coverage into local markets,’ this acquisition raises serious questions about the effects such a deal would have on competition in the industry, prices for consumers and delivery of perspectives in local media and sports content,” the letter reads.

The letter goes on to detail arguments from the senators through examples in recent years where they say Sinclair has attempted to garner more stations under its banner so that it can raise prices for consumers as well as relaying partisan political messages to its viewers, and how this most recent deal is another attempt to do so.

As a result, the senators are asking that the FCC and DOJ answer the following questions by July 8:

• “Have Sinclair Broadcast Corp. and/or The Walt Disney Company filed applications seeking your Department’s consent to transfer control of Disney’s 21 Regional Sports Networks and Fox College Sports to Sinclair? If so, when did they file these applications?
• Does your Department plan to issue a Public Notice that the application has been accepted for filing? Does your Department plan to issue a Public Notice setting a schedule for the public to submit comments on the application?

The Free State Foundation, a free market think tank, issued a rebuff of the senators’ letter, saying that neither the FCC or the DOJ can judge whether Sinclair’s programming is partisan or conservative.

“For either agency to do what the Senators ask is inconsistent with the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and freedom of the press,” Free State President Randolph May wrote. “Aside from whether their characterizations of Sinclair’s programming are even accurate, their purpose, an improper one, is to use government power to influence’s Sinclair’s editorial discretion.”

The Walt Disney Company is now officially the owner of two-thirds of 21st Century Fox.

The $71.3 billion deal first announced in December 2017 finally closed at 4:02 a.m. GMT this morning.

Disney now owns a range of film and TV assets including the Fox film and TV studio, FX Networks, National Geographic, international assets like Star India and a 30 percent stake in Hulu.

The deal raises the question, does this make Disney the biggest player in the media and entertainment industry? Alice Enders, head of research at Enders Analysis, tells TV Technology sister publication TVBEurope the answer to that question lies in another: “It begs the question of how a big player is conceived these days. Is it by total revenue? By the strength of the catalog and the pipeline of new releases? Certainly Disney is the single largest in children’s entertainment as it always has been. But acquiring Fox does not turn it into the adult entertainment juggernaut that is Warner Bros.

“Or are you aiming for the Netflix question: the power today is in direct to consumer relationships, allowing the company to hoover up data, refine creative strategy etc. In the latter case, Disney is no Netflix, but Disney needed Fox to some degree to launch a competitor service that has a chance to succeed in the U.S.”

Obviously it’s very early days in terms of what Disney might choose to do with its new acquisition. Enders believes the company’s first strategy will be to integrate Fox into the business—which could lead to cost savings—as well as the much-discussed launch later this year of its D2C streamer Disney+.

“For Disney to concede to the market that D2C is the primary value for a company today is quite something, but the writing has been on the wall for years now,” says Enders. “Everyone has struggled with the same problem: how to transform a lucrative business of licensing content to cinemas (Disney’s outstanding strength) and turn TV into an OTT business that doesn’t kill the existing revenue streams off.

“It’s a transition that Disney shareholders are on, and it may or may not work. If Disney cannot pierce Netflix in family entertainment, then no one can take that business on and all are condemned to being further upstream, cut off from the viewing numbers they require to judge if their shows are worth the licensing revenues they assert to the Netflixes of this world.”

Back when the deal was first mooted, Enders told TVBEurope it would be “quite astonishing” if the Murdoch family were to sell Fox. What does she think now? “The Rupert Murdoch strategy of centering the family fortunes on a major Hollywood studio has not changed, but just been transformed into a holding (passive for now) in Disney instead of Fox, future proofed for the passage to the next world of the great patriarch himself,” says Enders. “Much better to wrap it all up while he is with us than let the kids squabble and spoil his life’s work. I think it might be envisaged that James Murdoch becomes the eyes and ears of the family inside Fox.”

Finally, does Enders see the Disney/Fox deal as the start of a raft of these mega-deals, or will things calm down as the industry adjusts to the change? “There have been lots of rumors about Apple and Netflix. There are always going to be rumors about Apple (deep pockets) and the content business, and every media company wants value to be maximized by having many buyers for any asset,” she says.

“However, I don’t see that tie-up with a content business being uppermost for the moment; Apple/Netflix would be a concession that Apple’s own D2C business is mature and cannot grow further. Why buy Netflix when 30 percent commission is made on the Apple store? It has a lucrative content business already. It collects masses of data; location data being especially valuable. I don’t know, it just doesn’t seem like essential for Apple to buy Netflix.”

LOS ANGELES—A new, major player is expected to join the ranks of streaming services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime when Disney launches its own direct-to-consumer subscription service, Disney+. According to a recent survey by The Diffusion Group, there is a solid level of interest in this new service.

The new Disney+ service is expected to offer Disney movie library titles—including classic Disney films, as well as Pixar, National Geographic, Marvel and “Star Wars” movies—Disney’s children’s TV shows and original shows and movies created for the service.

“This is a major studio pooling what is arguably the largest library of high-value content on the planet to populate a single branded subscription service,” said Michael Greeson, TDG president.

TDG surveyed adult broadband users on the likelihood they would sign up for “a Netflix-like service from Disney,” randomly assigning the respondents price points of either $5.99, $7.99 or $9.99 a month. The results found that about 43 percent of adults are various degrees of likely to sign up for the service, compared to just below 40 percent who say they in various degrees are unlikely to sign up.

“Based on our research, Disney+ will enjoy strong early demand,” Greeson concluded. “The amount of high-quality content being packed into the offering will make it not only appealing, but very sticky.”

However, the interest does seem to depend on certain scenarios. For instance, legacy pay-TV subscribers are more strongly interested in Disney+ than cord-cutters or cord-nevers; Hulu subscribers are more likely to sign for up the service than those with Netflix or Amazon Prime; age also plays a factor, as those younger than 35, or those with children under 18 and living at home, are more inclined to sign up.

TDG also views the launch of Disney+ as a testing ground for the DTC model. The service is expected to pull select content from third-party SVODs like Netflix to run exclusively on its own platform. The success or failure of this will serve as a model for if this kind of “tribalism,” as TDG puts it, can be sustained.

Disney+ is reportedly eyeing a fall 2019 launch.

LONDON—The mega media mergers of Disney and Fox and Comcast and Sky have bolstered the two companies’ content holdings and positioned them to compete effectively with online video providers, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, according to a new analysis from media analyst firm Ampere Analysis.

Following the mergers, two of every $10 spent on content worldwide and four of every $10 in the United States will be accounted for by Comcast/Sky and Disney/Fox, according to the firm.

Together, the two merged companies will account for $43 billion spent on content this year—with Disney/Fox spending $22 billion on originated and acquired content and Comcast/Sky spending $21 billion.

While online video platforms, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, continue to be content juggernauts –with Netflix on track to spend $8 billion on content this year, the mergers of these traditional content sources have reshuffled the deck when it comes to market power.

“Prior to the recent mergers, Netflix was on course to catch –and overtake—the top Hollywood studios by content spend,” says Daniel Gadner, analyst at Ampere Analysis. “However, in light of the two new combined entities, Netflix would now need to triple spend to achieve this feat.”

The mergers strengthen to position of both Disney/Fox and Comcast/Sky in the global market and protects them against the rising power of online video, he adds. By executing the mergers, both have increased their libraries of original content, which they can exploit as part of their direct-to-consumer strategies.

Disney already has indicated it will go direct to consumer and pull the plug on licensing content to Netflix. The addition of Fox will make the offering even stronger, says Gadher.

For independent producers, the consolidation will mean less competition for rights, which “inevitably [will] impact the indie sector’s ability to negotiate favorable deals,” he adds.

21st Century Fox said it plans to sell its stake in Sky to Comcast.

Comcast made a $40 billion offer that outbid Fox for the remaining Sky shares. Fox was bidding for the Walt Disney Co., which earlier had agreed to buy assets from Fox, including Fox’s 37% of Sky.

Fox valued its stake at $15 billion.

Disney said consented to Fox’s decision to sell the stake to Comcast.

Fox will either it tender its shares under Comcast’s offer, or sell the shares directly to Comcast.

Outbidding Fox and Disney for Sky hurt Comcast on Wall Street, where investors were concerned Comcast has overpaid for the asset.

But Comcast said it believe Sky would give it a larger subscriber base, more international business and access to direct-to-consumer technology.

Fox issued statement about its decision to sell its stake in Sky.

“In light of the premium Comcast has agreed to pay for Sky, we and Disney have decided to sell 21CF’s existing 39% holding in Sky to Comcast. We congratulate Comcast on their pending acquisition.

“We are proud of the role our company has played in building Sky, and of the outstanding value we have delivered for shareholders of 21CF and Sky, and customers across Europe.

“When we launched Sky in 1989 it was four channels produced from a prefab structure in an industrial park on the fringes of west London. We bet -- and almost lost -- the farm on launching a business that many didn’t think was such a good idea. Today, Sky is Europe’s leading entertainment company and a world-class example of a customer-driven enterprise. This achievement would not have been possible without decades of entrepreneurial risk-taking and the commitment of thousands of colleagues, creators and dreamers. For nearly 30 years we have invested to create a dynamic and exciting business that has produced excellent returns for shareholders and has become one of the most admired companies in Europe.

“We have provided greater choice and better value for families across Europe, and we have created more than 31,000 jobs across the continent. Today, Sky brings customers better TV than ever before and better entertainment experiences than many ever thought possible.”

We are grateful to our exceptional colleagues at Sky for creating this unique and outstanding company and wish them continued success.”

LOS ANGELES--Shareholders for the Walt Disney Co. and 21 Century Fox quickly approved their estimated $71.3 billion merger on Friday in a deal that could radically alter the media landscape.

The voting process, which took less than 15 minutes, ended a dramatic dealmaking process that involved rival bids from Comcast that jacked up the price nearly $19 billion since News Corp. owner Rupert Murdoch made his initial offer of $52 billion in December. In the merger, Disney will acquire Fox’s television and movie studio, cable television channels FX and National Geographic, a stake in streaming service Hulu, television operations in India and Fox’s 39 percent stake in London-based pay-TV company Sky. 

Under the amended agreement, Disney will pay $35 billion in cash and distribute about 343 million shares of new Disney stock to 21st Century Fox shareholders, who will end up owning approximately 20 percent of Disney. Fox shareholders can elect to receive $38 per share or cash in Disney. The overall mix of consideration paid to 21st Century Fox shareholders will be approximately 50 percent cash and 50 percent stock.

Although the merger has already receive DOJ approval late last month with the sale of some regional sports networks, the deal is not expected to be approved until next year, since it faces additional regulatory approval from foreign governments. Disney said it is raising approximately $34 billion to help finance the transaction.

The acquisition will occur immediately after the spin-off by 21st Century Fox of the Fox Broadcasting network and stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business Network, FS1, FS2 and Big Ten Network into a newly listed company referred to as New Fox. If 21st Century Fox completes its acquisition of the 61 percent of Sky it doesn’t already own prior to closing of the Disney acquisition, Disney would assume full ownership of Sky, including the assumption of its outstanding debt, upon closing.

Among other plans, Disney will use the acquisition to take on rivals Netflix and Amazon with a Disney-branded streaming video on demand service that will feature Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars films along with a host of exclusive original content and library titles service in late 2019. Disney will also take a controlling stake in Hulu..

“We’re incredibly pleased that shareholders of both companies have granted approval for us to move forward, and are confident in our ability to create significant long-term value through this acquisition of Fox’s premier assets,” said Disney Chairma/CEO Bob Iger. “We remain grateful to Rupert Murdoch and to the rest of the 21st Century Fox board for entrusting us with the future of these extraordinary businesses, and look forward to welcoming 21st Century Fox’s stellar talent to Disney and ultimately integrating our businesses to provide consumers around the world with more appealing content and entertainment options.”

SEATTLE–21st Century Fox says it is expanding its relationship with Amazon Web Services to use AWS’s cloud platform to deliver more than 90,000 titles on demand for key brands such as Fox, FX, National Geographic, 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century Fox Film, and Fox Sports. The announcement is part of Fox’s extended partnership in which AWS will house the vast majority of Fox’s key platforms and workloads in the AWS cloud and adopt AWS’s machine learning and data analytics services to create a consistent set of digital media capabilities across its brands.

As part of a broader cloud transformation, 21st Century Fox says it has already reduced its data center needs by 50 percent and moved over 30 million assets—approximately 10 petabytes of content—to Amazon Glacier and Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3). In addition, 21st Century Fox has implemented an advanced company-wide approach to data collection, processing, and instrumentation using AWS’s technologies.

With this approach in place, 21st Century Fox is now leveraging AWS services such as Amazon S3 and AWS Glue to unify assets across the enterprise, Amazon Redshift to analyze data quickly, and Amazon Kinesis to collect, process, and analyze real-time, streaming data to gain deeper insights from the volume and variety of data ingested. This is facilitating the creation of new data products, and the deployment of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques across the organization according to Fox.

[Read: ‘Deadliest Catch’ Lands In The Cloud']

“We are experiencing the benefits of our long-term relationship with AWS, which started many years ago when we began to modernize the infrastructure and platforms that power our businesses throughout the world,” said John Herbert, Chief Information Officer at 21st Century Fox. “Having completed this phase, our strategic relationship is now enabling completely new and creative ways of producing our award-winning content and reaching audiences with new and innovative products.”

“We’ve all seen their award-winning television shows, tuned in for major sporting events, and felt connected to some of their blockbuster films, but 21st Century Fox is also a business-to-business media and entertainment powerhouse that is successfully using AWS to drive digital transformation across the entire organization,” said Mike Clayville, Vice President, Worldwide Commercial Sales at AWS. “In continuing to expand 21st Century Fox’s footprint on AWS, we’re helping them to innovate with speed and at scale. AWS is innovating at a faster clip than anyone else, especially in new areas such as Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things, and Serverless Computing, which means 21st Century Fox is always able to use the most advanced technologies on AWS to evolve their business in the cloud.”

The Walt Disney Company, which is currently bidding for 21st Century Fox's film and TV studio assets, announced a year ago that it is moving most of its production to the AWS Cloud.  

The Walt Disney Co. plans to move its New York City operations to a new building it will develop downtown at 4 Hudson Square.

Disney got the rights to develop the site for 99 years from Trinity Church Wall Street in a transaction the company valued at $650 million.

Separately Disney sold its current New York City offices on Manhattan’s Upper West Side to Silverstein Properties for $1.55 billion. Disney will lease those facilities for up to five years while 4 Hudson Square is being built.

The deal comes as Disney is in the midst of trying to complete its $71 billion acquisition of assets from 21st Century Fox.

“Today we’re announcing plans to build an incredible new state-of-the-art facility at 4 Hudson Square in downtown Manhattan that will ensure our employees have everything they need to do their best work and lead the way forward,” said Disney CEO Bob Iger.

“In addition to being LEED-certified for environmental responsibility and efficiency, the new building will also incorporate the latest technology as well as the ability to adapt to the next generation of technological advances,” said Iger. “This move represents an historic step forward toward our long-term vision for our New York operations. The Hudson Square district is rapidly becoming a dynamic, innovative hub for media, technology and other creative businesses. We are pleased and proud to be joining this exciting community and look forward to investing in the growth and development of the neighborhood.”

The new facility will have office and production space and be the home for WABC-TV, ABC News, Live With Kelly and Ryan and The View, which had been on the Upper West Side.

Disney Streaming Services will relocate to the new downtown space from Chelsea Market.

Good Morning America will continue to broadcast from its Times Square Studio.

Disney’s ESPN recently opened a new production facility near the South Street Seaport.

[Read: ESPN Nears Launch Of New Lower Manhattan Studios]

The 4 Hudson Square site covers a full block. The parcel was granted to the church by Queen Anne in 1705.

“We are excited to welcome Disney to the vibrant and growing Hudson Square area,” said the Rev. Dr. William Lupfer, rector of Trinity Church Wall Street. “This is a significant development in Trinity’s centuries-long commitment to this neighborhood and to the area’s continuing growth and transformation. We’re especially pleased that the transaction will help further Trinity’s mission to serve the people of New York City and around the world through our programs and ministries.”

FLOWER MOUND, TEXAS—There is a big difference between the types of shots news, sports and entertainment shows do in the studio and those they take in the field, and Redrock Micro in collaboration with Disney|ABC Television and Disney Research is out to do something about it.

At last month’s NAB Show in Las Vegas, Redrock unveiled DigiBoom, an affordable gimbal-stabilized camera rig that makes it simple for a single camera operator in the field to execute smooth camera moves with controls that make sense to an ENG camera operator.

What Disney | ABC Television noticed was that news and sports organizations were successfully integrating cinematic camera moves into their studio shots, but that most everything they shot in the field looked the same –mostly shoulder-mounted ENG shots.

About six years ago, former Disney| ABC Television Group EVP and CTO Vince Roberts tasked Anthony Accardo, the organization’s director R&D, with developing a low-cost alternative to expensive products beyond the reach of most broadcasters.

Years of development, field testing and iterative improvements resulted in DigiBoom.

Disney approached Redrock Micro with a prototype, and the company continued its development, incorporating suggestions from operators who have used the prototype for everything from red carpet celebrity coverage at the Oscars to the Rose Bowl.

“We took the notion of it, and built the product ourselves,” said James Hurd, president of Redrock Microsystems.

Core DigiBoom technology and associated patents were developed by Disney|ABC Television and Disney Research, and licensed to Redrock Micro to bring DigiBoom to market.

DigiBoom is a highly mobile rig capable of shots from extremely low to high that gives operators control over both the camera and the gimbal.

[Read: Redrock Micro Announces New Mini Rigs]

The product offers a dual gimbal mode for fully automated, fully manual or hybrid control of camera aim and angle.

A single power source can power the camera, DigiBoom and accessories, and an external power hookup is available for unlimited runtime. A bright, high-res display is conveniently located for the operator. To get the most from DigiBoom, the preferred recorder and camera are the Blackmagic Video Assist and Micro Studio Camera 4K, says Redrock Micro.

Many different setups are supported, including jib, drone-like, Steadicam and handheld. With DigiBoom, the camera can be placed from ground level to more than 8-feet in the air –up to 12-feet with an optional extension.

Redrock Micro plans to begin shipping DigiBoom in the summer.

More information is available on the Redrock Micro website.

Comcast is talking to bankers about getting financing for an all-cash bid for the assets 21st Century Fox has agreed to sell for $52 billion to the Walt Disney Co., according to Reuters.

The new bid would up the ante in what is developing into a battle among Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Fox chairman Rupert Murdoch.

Comcast earlier this month made a bid for European satellite company Sky. Fox owns a big stake in Sky and its proposal to buy the remainder has been held up by British regulators.

[Read: Comcast's Sky Bid Could Lead To A Global OTT Service]

According to the report, Comcast is asking bankers to increase the loans it has to buy Sky so it can purchase the Fox assets as well.

Fox rejected an offer from Comcast that was 17% higher than Disney’s bid because of antitrust issues.

Under President Donald Trump, the Justice Department sued to prevent AT&T from acquiring Time Warner. A ruling in the case is expected next month.

LOS ANGELES—The Walt Disney Studios has appointed Accenture as a founding member and Innovation Partner of its StudioLAB initiative that aims to reimagine, design and prototype entertainment experiences and the production capabilities of the future, the consulting, strategy and technology company said Wednesday.

Accenture Interactive and its design unit Fjord will help to establish StudioLAB, as well as develop new entertainment technology. Guided by Accenture Labs’ R&D, they seek to employ emerging technologies in innovative ways, the company said.

“As we thought about key partners to deliver our vision for StudioLAB, the decision to collaborate with Accenture Interactive was clear,” said Jamie Voris, CTO of The Walt Disney Studios in a press release.

Initially, the focus will be on immersive entertainment, artificial intelligence, IoT, the future of movie production and next-generation cinematic platforms, the company said. Accenture will support operations at StudioLAB as part of its three-year agreement with Disney. It will work with Disney to develop StudioLAB’s charter and governance, physical lab design and business operations.

Accenture employees will work with StudioLAB personnel on incubating and prototyping new concepts to advance how stories are told, it said.

“Technology is an essential component of how we make characters, stories and worlds come alive at Disney, and we’re looking forward to the possibilities of what we can imagine and build together,” said Voris.

BURBANK, CALIF.—The Walt Disney Co. on Monday (March 5) named James Pitaro as president of ESPN and co-chair Disney Media Networks.

Pitaro has been chair of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media since 2016.

He replaces John Skipper, who stepped down last year because of personal issues. Since Skipper left, former ESPN chair George Bodenheimer has been running the sports network as acting chairman.

[John Skipper Resigns as ESPN President]

Though a leader in the sports business and a top rated network, ESPN has been hurt by the decline in pay-TV subscribers because it takes in the most revenue per subscriber of any cable network. At the same time as its distribution revenue growth has been throttled by cord-cutting, its costs for sports programming have been rising, putting pressure on profits.

ESPN is getting ready to launch a new app that will include ESPN Plus, a new subscription product that will offer live sporting events, origianl content and a library of on-demand programming.

“As a passionate and lifelong sports fan, I am honored to be joining the ESPN team during such a pivotal time in its storied history,” Pitaro said. “The appetite for quality sports content across platforms has never been greater, and I am looking forward to working with the talented ESPN team as we continue to redefine the future fan experience.”

Pitaro’s appointment is effective immediately, and new leadership for Disney’s consumer products and interactive businesses will be named at a later date.

Before joining Disney, Pitaro served as head of Yahoo Media, where he helped build Yanoo Sports.

Disney CEO Bob Iger said that Pitaro's experence makes him the right person to head ESPN.

“Jimmy is a talented and dedicated leader with the right strategic vision, relentless drive and passion for sports required to lead the stellar ESPN team at this incredibly dynamic time, Iger said. “Jimmy forged his career at the intersection of technology, sports and media, and his vast experience and keen perspective will be invaluable in taking ESPN into the future. I also want to extend my utmost thanks to George Bodenheimer for serving as Acting Chair of ESPN these past few months; he is a true industry pioneer and helped make ESPN the undisputed leader in sports.”

This story first appeared on TVT's sister publication B&C.

BURBANK, CALIF.—The Walt Disney Company has announced that it is set to acquire a 33 percent stake in technology services and video streaming company BAMTech. Originally formed by Major League Baseball, BAMTech will aid Disney in the delivery and support of streaming video and other digital products from Disney | ABC Television Group and ESPN.

“Our investment in BAMTech gives us the technology infrastructure we need to quickly scale and monetize our streaming capabilities at ESPN and across our company,” said Bob Iger, chairman and CEO for The Walt Disney Company.

As part of the new deal BAMTech will collaborate with ESPN to launch and distribute a new ESPN-branded multi-sport subscription streaming service. This new direct-to-consumer service will feature BAMTech and ESPN content and live regional, national and international sporting events. However, current content on ESPN’s linear networks will not appear as part of the service.

Disney will pay $1 billion in two installments to complete the deal; one now and one in January 2017. It also has the option to acquire a majority ownership in the coming years. Other details of the agreement include BAMTech separating from MLB’s MLB Advanced Media digital business; and the NHL has received a minority interest in BAMTech, as a result of a previous agreement.