With Disney deal, Comcast takes long view on viewers' habits

Comcast Corp. executives see the TV audience fragmenting into a million pieces of glass with smartphones, laptops, desktops, and tablets.

Nonetheless, the Philadelphia company placed a big bet that the cable TV business will be here for many years, with a sweeping new 10-year contract with the Walt Disney Co.

The most extensive and largest content deal in Disney's history, the contract expands the reach of ESPN, the all-sports network, while also underpinning "the core fundamentals of the cable TV business," Sean Bratches, executive vice president with the Disney and ESPN networks, said Friday.

Comcast says it believes the arrangement could be a model for the industry and will be a good deal for its Xfinity TV consumers, offering more Disney content than any other pay-TV provider.

A critical component was a suite of services that will enable Xfinity subscribers to view Disney entertainment and ESPN sports on mobile devices and desktop computers. Disney has branded the services with the "Watch" logo - as in WatchESPN, WatchDisneyChannel, and WatchABC.

Inside the home, Xfinity subscribers can use a desktop, laptop, or tablet.

Comcast does not operate a wireless network outside the home, but it has wired 20,000 separate WiFi hot spots between Wilmington, Philadelphia, and New York City for free use by those who authenticate that they are Xfinity subscribers. A Comcast user also could access ESPN or Disney content through a Verizon or AT&T Wireless phone service, again after authenticating they are Xfinity subscribers.

WatchESPN should be available to Comcast's Xfinity subscribers within the next several months. WatchDisneyChannel is a new and similar service being launched later this year. Xfinity customers are expected to be the first to get it. It has not been determined when WatchABC will be ready.

"The Comcast goal is to be the customer's go-to source for video content, no matter how they want to consume it," James Ratcliffe, an analyst with Barclays Capital in New York, said Friday. "The deal gives them almost universal access to the Disney content over a variety of platforms."

The Mickey Mouse content will not be cheap. David Joyce of Miller Tabak & Co. L.L.C. estimates that Comcast could pay Disney more than $26 billion over the term of the contract.