Comcast’s Sky division has dismissed a federal lawsuit against Warner Bros. Discovery after the operator and media company struck a new multi-year carriage deal, and that’s good news for Comcast cable TV subscribers in the U.S.
As part of the agreement announced Monday, Comcast has not only renewed carriage of WBD linear channels including HBO, TNT, TBS, CNN, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, TLC and Investigation Discovery on Xfinity TV-branded pay TV services, it also has the right to package the ad-supported iterations of Max and Discovery+ in its streaming bundles.
The renewal comes a year before Comcast and WBD’s current carriage deal was set to expire. In September, WBD also sewed up carriage with Charter Communications a year early, as well. As it did three months ago with Charter, news of the Comcast deal initially sent WBD shares up. But a class-action suit against the media company filed by investors unhappy with its recent handling of NBA rights negotiations sent the company’s stock back down in after-hours trading.
Financial terms of the Comcast/WBD deal weren’t disclosed. Comcast will continue to offer WBD channels as part of its NOW TV streaming service. (You can read the joint announcement here.)
The Xfinity agreement is part of a broader, global deal, which following the announcement of, saw Comcast TV distributor Sky’s suit against WBD, filed in September in the Southern District of New York, voluntarily dismissed, as reported by Deadline. In the suit Sky alleged that WBD failed to deliver on the terms of a five-year output HBO output deal for Sky in the UK, Italy and Germany. Notably, Sky said it was being denied access to HBO’s upcoming series adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s iconic “Harry Potter” novels. In its suit, Comcast and Sky alleged that WBD wanted to “keep the Harry Potter series for itself.”
With the carriage renewal, Sky will also get to bundle ad-supported Max in the UK and Ireland starting in 2026, when the Max app launches in the region. This bounty will also include the “Harry Potter” TV show, which is currently being produced by Warner Bros. Television.
“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,” said Greg Rigdon, president of content acquisition for Comcast, in a statement.
Added Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer for WBD: “These broad and multi-year agreements underscore the value and appeal of our linear portfolio for audiences in the U.S. Sky UK is an ideal partner for us in the UK and Ireland as we prepare for Max’s launch in early 2026.”