While their talks with other larger companies have grabbed more headlines, Univision Communications and Altice USA quietly reached a multi-year carriage agreement over the weekend.
Both Altice and Univision have had their hands full of late. Univision went dark to Dish Network subscribers on June 30 and have been unable to reach an agreement ever since. In August, Dish chairman Charlie Ergen said the blackout was probably permanent.
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Altice USA’s carriage agreements with 21st Century Fox for its broadcast stations, FX and National Geographic expired at midnight on Oct. 1, but the networks are still available to Altice customers as negotiations continue.
While those bigger deals are still up in the air, both Altice USA and Univision managed to hammer out a deal that not only included a renewal of channels long carried by the distributor, but added a few more.
As part of the Univision deal, Altice will continue to carry networks including Univision, UniMás, Galavisión, Univision Deportes Network (UDN), FOROtv, TLNovelas, Telehit, Bandamax, De Pelicula and De Pelicula Clasico.
Altice will also make Fusion TV available to its customers and expand distribution of El Rey Network throughout its footprint. The portfolio of networks will be available in the markets Altice serves under its Optimum and Suddenlink brands. The deal also includes the local Univision and UniMás stations serving Altice markets.
In addition, Univision and Altice will also collaborate on the production of Spanish-language content for Altice’s News 12.
The Univision portfolio will be accessible through Altice’s all-in-one entertainment platform, the Altice One. Altice customers will also continue to have authenticated TV Everywhere access to Univision’s portfolio, allowing them to stream news, sports and entertainment programming on a range of platforms and devices both in and out of their homes.
