Charter and WBD Winners in New Distribution Deal: MoffettNathanson

The Charter Communications-Warner Bros. Discovery distribution deal announced last week (see 2409120002) is a win-win for the companies, MoffettNathanson said. WBD secured a critical distribution partner and seemingly avoided having to settle for smaller fees for TNT, as was expected, while Charter can include Max and Discovery+ for its subscribers at no extra cost and completes a free suite of direct-to-consumer streaming services in its bundle, MoffettNathanson said. WBD will likely use the Charter agreement as a template in forthcoming affiliate fee deals, but it's uncertain Comcast and DirecTV have different negotiating priorities from Charter, it said.