Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery have inked a set of anticipated long-term agreements that will deliver WBD’s extensive portfolio of content to Xfinity and Sky UK and Ireland customers using Comcast’s global technology platform across linear television, apps, and streaming services.
Comcast said the renewal agreements further the companies’ longstanding distribution relationship with WBD’s portfolio of linear cable networks for Xfinity TV customers, including TNT, TBS, CNN, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, TLC, and Investigation Discovery.
WBD stock is up nearly 4.5% after the news.
In addition, the agreements provide continued carriage of HBO and expand Comcast’s rights to package the ad-supported versions of Max and Discovery+ in its streaming bundles. Comcast will also continue to offer WBD content as part of its U.S. NOW TV streaming services.
The announcement today is interesting because it constitutes a global agreement including a number of disparate pacts that expired at different times across the U.S. and the UK.
“We extended our partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery to distribute its networks and expanded our ability to deliver its premium streaming content, including Max and Discovery+, in a way that provides more choice and flexibility to all of our customers as the video ecosystem continues to evolve,” said Greg Rigdon, President of Content Acquisition for Comcast. “Through these agreements, we will bring Warner Bros. Discovery’s extensive portfolio to our customers however they want to consume the content across our existing and future linear television and streaming bundles.”
“These broad and multi-year agreements underscore the value and appeal of our linear portfolio for audiences in the U.S.,” said Bruce Campbell, Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer, Warner Bros. Discovery. “Sky UK is an ideal partner for us in the UK and Ireland as we prepare for Max’s launch in early 2026. We are pleased that Xfinity and Sky UK subscribers will continue to enjoy our award-winning and popular content on our networks and across our streaming platforms.”
The companies also announced that Sky UK and Warner Bros. Discovery have broadened their collaboration to bring the very best of Warner Bros. Discovery television and movies to Sky UK and NOW customers through a new long-term partnership in the UK and Ireland. Building on the award-winning WBD content available today on Sky Cinema and the existing series on Sky Atlantic, the agreement will now include a new, non-exclusive ad-supported Max app when WBD launches the service in the UK and Ireland in early 2026. The Max ad-supported service will be bundled for Sky UK and Ireland customers, providing new shows on the service and more WBD content complementing Sky’s position in seamless aggregation.
In addition, NOW UK and Ireland Entertainment members will also receive bundled access to the ad-supported version of Max seamlessly integrated into Sky’s NOW experience alongside other top content.
“This new partnership provides an expanded portfolio of content for our customers who enjoy Warner Bros. Discovery’s popular storytelling. Sky customers will be able to enjoy the Max app, WBD movies and the TV shows currently on Sky channels, and a seamless integration of the Max service into our NOW streaming experience,” said Dana Strong, Group CEO of Sky. “The combination of content from our partners, alongside our slate of Sky Originals, and Sky’s leading aggregation of the UK and Ireland’s best content apps gives us an unrivalled entertainment proposition and an exceptional line-up of the world’s best shows.”
“Today’s announcement is very exciting for everyone who loves award-winning scripted entertainment and movies. Our new agreement will continue Warner Bros. Discovery’s long-standing collaboration with Sky UK. Arriving in early 2026, the market-wide launch of Max in the UK & Ireland is a significant step in our global roll-out and will be the place where audiences find incredible new shows including the future Harry Potter series from HBO,” said Andrew Georgiou, President & Managing Director for WBD UK & Ireland.
Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed. The duration wasn’t either but as the television industry has shifted, these deal have tended to narrow from a five-year norm to two or three years.
The news today appears to settle what was becoming a contentious situation in the UK, where Max is set to roll out into Sky territory in 2026 amid an ongoing international expansion and after its HBO output deal with Sky expires.
In September, Comcast sued Warner for refusing to live up to the terms of that five-year output deal between HBO and Sky in the U.K. as well as Italy and Germany. Comcast said WBD “brazenly denied Sky its right to partner on Warner’s highly valuable decade-long, tentpole television series adapting J.K. Rowling’s iconic Harry Potter novels … Instead, Warner has largely disregarded the parties’ agreement and sought to keep the Harry Potter content for itself so that Warner can use it as the cornerstone of the launch of its Max streaming service in Europe.”
The new contract announced likely moots that the legal fight.
WBD’s renewal with Comcast was up by year end and is a big one for the David Zaslav-led company, which has been under pressure after losing the NBA to a trio of rights holders (that includes Comcast’s NBCUniversal). Questions bubbling on Wall Street through the summer and into the fall have been whether Turner can still flourish without the NBA, whether affiliate fees would drop dramatically at TNT/ Turner, or whether there might even be a loss of carriage.
An early renewal with Charter in September that maintained fees with NBA on TNT for only one more season was helpful, but Wall Street has been eagerly awaiting a resolution with Comcast. Deals with the top two biggest pay-TV operators establishes a good baseline for a spate of other renewals into 2025.
It’s been a rather momentous year for linear television with Warner Bros. Discovery taking a massive write-down on its linear assets — in large part on the NBA loss, and Paramount Global doing the same. Comcast last month unveiled a potentially game changing spinoff of most of its cable networks into a separate public company.
English (US) ·