Verizon Says It Doesn’t Need ESPN’s Okay to Break Up the Bundle

Verizon says it doesn’t need permission from ESPN or any other TV programmer to break up the bundle. Speaking on the company’s earnings call, Verizon chief financial officer Fran Shammo told investors that the company’s deals with TV programmers allow it to offer a new “customized TV” plan, which gives subscribers the ability to mix and match different clusters of cable channels. On April 17, Disney’s ESPN said the new offering violates the network’s distribution agreement by moving its channels to a sports-only tier. “We believe that we are allowed to offer these packages under our existing contracts,” Shammo told an analyst who asked if the carrier had “explicit permission” from Disney and other programmers to launch its new service.

An ESPN representative said the company didn’t have anything to add to its earlier statement, which said Verizon’s plan “would not be authorized by our existing agreements.” Verizon’s plan gives pay TV customers a basic set of channels for a set price, then gives them the option to swap out different bundles of additional channels, grouped by themes like sports or entertainment. It’s a step toward “a la carte” TV, though it still doesn’t let consumers pick and choose individual channels. While Verizon says it doesn’t need approval from Disney and other programmers to sell TV this way, it may be trying to get it anyway.