Comcast, HBO Reach Distribution Deal

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

Comcast Corp. and Home Box Office Tuesday announced their long-anticipated
carriage-extension agreement, which includes subscription-video-on-demand and
high-definition rights.

In addition to the HBO and Cinemax channels, the agreement includes the
distribution of SVOD services HBO on Demand and Cinemax on Demand, as well as
HBO HD and Cinemax HD, at no additional costs to current subscribers of both
services, Comcast officials said.

Terms of the agreement were not announced. Neither Comcast nor HBO would
comment further.

This past April, the MSO cut a similar long-term agreement with Showtime
Networks Inc. for its various pay TV, HD and SVOD services.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.