Comcast & Disney Work Together on Video On Demand

by , 4:30 PM EST, December 1st, 2006

Disney and Comcast will be announcing a new content deal that allows Comcast to offer Disney properties such as TV shows like Desperate Housewives through its Video on Demand (VOD) business and through a new Comcast TV portal. The deal, reported by BusinessWeek, reflects the swiftly changing landscape of content delivery set in motion by Disney's deal with Apple to distribute TV shows and movies through iTunes.

The article may be illuminating for Apple customers because it revealed how content providers are exploring all options, without restrictions, to sell their products, and how traditional non-Internet TV/video carriers are scrambling fast to engage in deals that will keep people glued to their traditional TVs.

"The notion of the two companies working together would have seemed far-fetched not that long ago, when venomous barbs flew in the wake of the 2004 takeover bid. That bid helped seal the fate of then-Disney CEO Michael Eisner, who resigned a year later and was replaced by his second-in-command, [Robert] Iger."

Reporter Ronald Grover explained how a traditional cable company, under pressure from AT&T's IPTV, MySpace (as well as Apple's iTunes, Wall-Mart and YouTube) needs to improve its offerings as more and more customers engage in "TV-over-Internet." Disney also plans to help Comcast with VOD movies available at the same time the corresponding DVDs arrive in stores.