Charter and The Walt Disney Company have expanded their landmark carriage deal, adding Hulu’s ad-supported service to Spectrum TV Select packages at no extra cost. The agreement, which also restores eight Disney-owned channels, reinforces a strategy born from their contentious 2023 dispute to fight cord-cutting by welding streaming apps directly to traditional cable bundles.
After the war: This deal builds on the truce that ended a 10-day channel blackout in September 2023. During that fight, Charter publicly declared it was ready to walk away from the video business entirely, a move that ultimately forced Disney to include its ad-supported Disney+ service in the cable package, setting a new industry precedent.
All in on apps: Charter is betting that making its cable package a central hub for streaming will convince customers to stick around. By adding Hulu and the forthcoming ESPN streaming service to the mix, the company claims the bundle will now offer more than $100 per month in streaming value. Early signs suggest the approach is working, as Charter’s video subscriber losses slowed in the first quarter of 2025.
The re-bundling reality: This agreement solidifies the evolving role of cable companies, shifting them from simple channel distributors to powerful super-aggregators of streaming content. It’s a model designed for survival, proving the future of TV looks a lot like its bundled past.
Elsewhere in the bundle wars: The path to re-bundling isn’t always straightforward, as Verizon recently paused new enrollment for its +play platform. At the same time, other rivals are emulating the strategy, with DirecTV integrating streaming services into its new Genre Pack bundles to keep pace.
