Disney, ABC Station Owners Agree to Share Pay-TV Fees

Walt Disney, owner of the ABC network, said it reached an agreement with some affiliate stations to collect a share of the retransmission fees they obtain from pay-TV systems.

The agreement, along with accords Disney-owned stations have reached with pay TV operators, covers 64 percent of the US, Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney/ABC Television Group, said at an investor meeting today. Stations may pay a license fee to Disney or share fees they collect from cable and satellite TV systems, she said. Other terms weren't disclosed. The agreement advances Disney’s effort to receive so-called retransmission fees from pay-TV carriers for signals that are available free over the air. The company announced such an agreement today with Verizon Communications Inc.’s FiOS pay-TV service and has similar accords with Cablevision Systems Corp., the New York-area cable company, and Time Warner Cable Inc.