The Disney Channel and ABC have become the latest TV services to join forces with FLO TV, the nation’s primary provider of hand-held, portable television.
FLO TV has expanded its content distribution agreement with The Walt Disney Company to add content from the ABC Television Network and Disney Channel to its lineup to bring shows like ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” & “Desperate Housewives” and Disney Channel’s “Hannah Montana” & “Wizards of Waverly Place.”
With ABC on board, the Qualcomm service now can offer the four major broadcast networks.
FLO TV launched in 2007 on Verizon and last year on AT&T. NBC ToGo, CBS Mobile and Fox Mobile are already part of the core offering, which ABC Mobile now joins.
The offering, which comes in several consumer packages involving different carriers and mobile devices, costs consumers a minimum of $8 a month.
Disney isn’t a FLO TV beginner as its ESPN Mobile TV already was part of the service.
The deal, set to be announced Tuesday, Dec. 8, includes the mobilized feed of ABC and a simulcast of Disney Channel, though reruns will air in place of the occasional third-party movie where mobile rights still aren’t available.
Qualcomm doesn’t reveal details of the financial relationships it has with the Big Four networks, but “there are parallels you can draw between our deals and affiliate deals,” said Jonathan Barzilay, senior VP of Programming and Advertising at FLO TV.
With the new two services, FLO TV’s core offering expands to 17 channels.
