ESPN 3 To Be Enjoyed Free!

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SAN FRANCISCO (GaeaTimes.com)- On Thursday Times Warner Cable Inc. announced that its customers can now access sports website ESPN3.com even if they are not subscribed to the company’s Internet plan. The announcement was made after the company was able to strike a long-term deal with Disney which was on a hold for some time now. The subscribers of the Times Warner cable video will not have to pay any extra charges to enjoy the services provided by ESPN 3.com. Although the financial details of the deal have not been disclosed by the companies, sources claimed that the network owners have been demanding a higher share in the subscription market.

ESPN 3 offers to its subscriber full videos of different games. It recently provided live videos of World Cup games which were in general not being shown on ABC. ESPN 3.com is one of Disney’s roster of broadcast and cable networks that has become highly popular in the recent times. Time Warner Cable and its affiliate, Bright House Networks have been holding out of the deal with Disney for a long time saying that the latter’s pattern of linking fees with the number of Internet subscribers was wrong.

According to sources close to the deal, Disney’s ABC was pushing for a share of the subscription market as it is a profitable shift from the ad-supported business model to a two way revenue stream that in general are enjoyed by cable networks. Although it is not clear how much it has been able to gain with the latest ESPN 3.com deal, media sources report that under the new deal Disney will get carriage for its upcoming 24-hour channel titled Disney Junior.