Disney Shoots Down Report About ABC Network Sale

The Walt Disney Company is shutting down rumors that it is actively selling ABC. On Thursday, the company released a statement (via The Hollywood Reporter) revealing that although it is “open to considering a variety of strategic options for our linear businesses,” there are no active conversations to sell the long-running broadcast network. This comes after rumors had swirled that Disney was in “initial” conversations with Nexstar, which currently owns The CW, WGN, and other locally-owned networks, about a potential purchase.

“At this time The Walt Disney Company has made no decision with respect to the divestiture of ABC or any other property and any report to that effect is unfounded,” the statement confirmed.

Will Disney Sell ABC or ESPN?

In recent months, fans and industry experts have speculated about whether or not Disney might sell ABC, its stake in Hulu, or its cable networks like Freeform, ESPN, or FX. As Disney CEO Bob Iger hinted to CNBC earlier this year, he’s not opposed to the possibility, if the circumstances are right. 

“We’re going to be open minded there too, not necessarily about spinning ESPN off, but about looking for strategic partners that can either help us with distribution or content,” Iger said. “But we want to stay in the sports business. Sports is very, very attractive media and we have a unique position and we feel that we should stay in it.”

“Over time when I came back, I was open minded about Hulu because there is this agreement with Comcast that actually calls for a transaction, their stake to us, sometime in 2024 and I didn’t want that to be an automatic. I wanted to look at that objectively,” Iger explained. “I spent a lot of time looking at that as part of the future of our streaming business and ultimately concluded that we would be better off having Hulu than not having Hulu.” 

Did Disney and Charter Make a Deal?

Earlier this month, Disney confirmed that it has settled its cable carriage dispute with Charter, which had briefly led to a blackout of ABC and other Disney-owned channels. Iger and Charter Communications CEO and President Christopher Winfrey confirmed the deal in a joint statement, calling it a “transformative agreement” in their space.

“Our collective goal has always been to build an innovative model for the future. This deal recognizes both the continued value of linear television and the growing popularity of streaming services, while addressing the evolving needs of our consumers,” Iger and Winfrey’s joint statement reads. “We also want to thank our mutual customers for their patience this past week, and are pleased that Spectrum viewers once again have access to Disney’s high-quality sports, news and entertainment programming, in time for Monday Night Football.”

What do you think of the latest update about Disney and ABC? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!