Connecticut Cable Provider Altice USA Spars With Disney Over Fees: Report

Customers of Altice USA's Optimum cable television service could face the possibility of losing ESPN, ABC and other Walt Disney-owned due to a fee dispute between the two companies, reports The New York Times and other media outlets.

Disney is threatening to pull its channels from the Optimum lineup as early as Oct. 1 if a new deal is not reached. The main sticking point appears to be ESPN, writes USA Today, for which experts estimate Altice pays more than $7.50 per month per subscriber.

In a statement, Altice says that the company wants to continue negotiating a fair price for the channels, but makes clear that ESPN and Disney are seeking a fee increase at a time when viewership has declined. Altice has more than 2.6 million customers in the Tri-State area and Pennsylvania.

"We are always working hard to negotiate carriage agreements that reflect the best interest of all our customers," stated Altice, adding that if the channels go dark, it is Disney's decision to pull them, not Altice's. "We want to carry ESPN and its sister networks, including ABC and Disney, at a reasonable rate and have already offered an increase in retransmission fees and sports programming costs.

"Yet, despite the fact that viewership of their programming by Optimum customers has been declining in the double digits for years, ESPN and its owner are demanding double the rates for ABC for the same content they offer today, exorbitant fee increases for ESPN, and are trying to force customers who don’t receive ESPN to have to pay for it.

"Skyrocketing programming costs, particularly those charged by broadcasters and sports networks, are the greatest contributor to rising cable bills, and ESPN is already the most expensive basic cable channel in history. This behavior by ESPN is anti-consumer, and we urge ESPN and its owner to stop the threats, leave their programming on for customers and focus on negotiating an agreement that is fair for our Optimum customers."

In a statement to USA Today, Disney says that Optimum customers pay an average of $160 per month for service, "and the bulk of that money goes into [Altice's] pocket."

Click here to read the full story on The New York Times website, and click here to read it on USA Today.