Hulu

Earlier today we reported on word that Prospect Park would not be airing online episodes of “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” on TOLN/The OnLine Network, as had originally been expected, following today’s announcement by the company that Hulu, the green internet hub owned by The Walt Disney Company, Comcast and News Corp., had acquired digital distribution rights to both series via Hulu’s subscription and free-to-view platforms. In a posting on its Tumblr page, Hulu clarified that news report.

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The Walt Disney Company

A few days ago a comment was posted on our website regarding why SOAPnet was still on the air, particularly on the posters cable system, despite the network widely expected to have left the airwaves in 2012. As we reported in April 2011, SOAPnet will transition into Disney Jr. at some point, but not until new deals are forged with cable operators.

April 25, 2011

Your first thought would be that a new network taking over from another will result in the old networks subscribers immediately becoming the new channels subscribers, but that is not the case for Disney Jr. and SOAPnet. Cable and Satellite operators signed long-term contracts with the Walt Disney Company to carry SOAPnet along with its plethora of cable channels. With the launch of Disney Jr. in place of SOAPnet, operators and Disney are now required to sign a new deal that would allow Disney to launch Disney Jr. The only problem is any new deal would put discussions of carriage on the table for powerhouses ESPN, Disney Channel, Disney XD, ABC Family and even the ABC Television Network now that it too receives re-transmission fees from cable and satellite operators (courtesy of its Owned & Operated stations). Since new deals have not been signed with providers, SOAPnet will remain on air until agreements have been met.

Now that it is 2013, we wondered if there was any progress being made in the transition. At last count (summer 2012), SOAPnet was still available to more than 60 million cable homes. Therefore, we recently reached out to representatives from The Walt Disney Company Read More >>