Disney, Verizon Fios reach agreement to avoid blackout of ESPN, other channels

Verizon and Disney announced Sunday they have reached a deal to keep the network's channels on Fios, a day before a contract between the two companies was set to expire.

"Verizon and The Walt Disney Company have reached a broad-based distribution agreement," Verizon and The Walt Disney Company said in a joint statement.

The deal, made before the current contract was set to expire Dec. 31, will be welcome news to Fios users who are college football fans as Disney's channels include ESPN, which will air New Year's Day bowl games. The other channels that would have been affected include the Disney Channel and ABC stations in New York and Philadelphia.

The details of the new agreement will be released in the coming days, the statement added.

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Last week, Verizon charged that Disney wanted the telecom giant to "pay hundreds of millions of dollars more for its programming, despite the fact that many of its key networks are experiencing declining viewership," Verizon said.

"The rising cost of programming is the biggest factor in higher TV bills and we are standing up to networks like Disney, refusing to accept these huge increases," Verizon said.

In its own statement last week, Disney said: “Our proven history of providing extraordinary value to consumers and distributors is unmatched. Our negotiations continue in earnest and we remain optimistic that we can reach a deal.”

Disney, which launched a $4.99-monthly ESPN+ streaming service in April, is preparing to launch another subscription offering in 2019 called Disney+. In the works for that service are new movies and series new stories based on the "Star Wars," "High School Musical," "Monsters Inc." and Marvel comics franchises.

Verizon has about 4.5 million Fios video subscribers in Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Providence, Rhode Island, Virginia and Washington, D.C. Verizon also has 6 million Fios internet connections and an additional 945,000 high-speed internet connections.

Contributing: Mike Snider