X

Comcast on verge of Disney TV deal, report says

Leslie Katz Former Culture Editor
Leslie Katz led a team that explored the intersection of tech and culture, plus all manner of awe-inspiring science, from space to AI and archaeology. When she's not smithing words, she's probably playing online word games, tending to her garden or referring to herself in the third person.
Credentials
  • Third place film critic, 2021 LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards
See full bio
Leslie Katz

Cable giant Comcast, which for more than two years has been seeking prime-time TV programs to offer on its video-on-demand service, is poised to ink a deal with Disney for shows including Lost and Desperate Housewives, according to an article posted Monday night in The Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

The show swap is part of a larger transaction that could be finalized as early as Tuesday, the WSJ reports.

Under the deal, the newspaper says, ABC will make Lost and Desperate Housewives available on-demand for free, along with two other new prime-time shows to be determined by the companies later. Programming from such Disney cable networks as ESPN, the Disney Channel and Toon Disney will be available to on-demand customers for the first time.

In another first, Disney movies will be made available for a fee on Comcast's on-demand service, according to the report.

In 2004, Comcast made an unsuccessful $66 billion bid to take over Disney. With that bid, Comcast hoped to add brand name content such as ABC News to power its next generation of services, including video-on-demand, high-definition TV and streaming media.