Fitch: Comcast-Disney Deal a Win-Win

The Comcast-Walt Disney Co. distribution agreement is a positive for Disney and other content providers, as well as for Comcast and cable generally, according to financial analyst house Fitch Ratings. Fitch views the deal as evidence that providers of in-demand, high quality content will continue to monetize it in incremental ways and thrive amid, rather than be pressured by, the proliferation of alternative distribution platforms.Fitch views the deal as a positive for Comcast as well. The company has leveraged its size and scale to secure unique content rights that will differentiate its video service from its competition, which, along with improving user interfaces, will strengthen Comcast's competitive position among other multi-channel video programming distributors (MVPDs).Fitch also views the signing of an omnibus deal as a significant positive for the cable networks generally. Fitch believes it validates the view that bundled packages of cable networks will remain the industry standard, and that a la carte pricing is not a risk at this time.