By Madhuri Dey
Sep 3, (THAINDIAN NEWS) After weeks of negotiations the Time Warner Cable Inc has ultimately been able to strike a long-term deal with the Disney/ ABC group of companies under which the subscribers of the Time Warner Cable will be able to enjoy the services provided by website ESPN3.com without paying any extra charges. The subscribers of the Time Warner Cable even do not need to subscribe to the Internet services of the network to enjoy the game videos in ESPN 3. The announcement of the deal was made by the Time Warner Cable on Thursday which however restrained from disclosing the details of the deal. Both the companies have declined to disclose the details of the deal.

The companies have come forward with the new contract just on time as its previous contract is scheduled to expire soon. While Time Warner Cable Inc has blamed the Disney for the delay, the latter has shifted the blame on the former. Sources close to the deal have revealed to media sources that Disney’s ABC were pushing for more fees to be paid in return of programming by Pay-TV providers. In the grim scenario of advertising market in which the channel providers in general depend on advertisers, Disney tried to move to a dual revenue stream enjoyed by cable networks in general. The Time Warner Cable itself mentioned in front of the media sources that the Disney and the ABC group was tying the fees to the number of internet subscribers which it found inappropriate.

While the new long-term deal with the Time Warner Cable will lead the subscribers to enjoy the game videos streamed by ESPN3 on its website, then on the other hand the Disney has also gained carriage of its new Disney Junior, a 24-hour channel that is scheduled to be launched in 2012.