Disney's linear TV channels are coming back to Sky. In a few days, as ItaliaOggi can exclusively reveal, the partnership agreement between the Burbank giant and Comcast’s broadcaster will be officially announced. The deal will bring some of Disney’s rich content catalogue — including Disney, FX, Hulu, etc. — back to good old traditional linear television channels, which, contrary to what many analysts have claimed for years, never actually go out of fashion.
Soon, therefore, Sky Italia subscribers will enjoy a new Disney-branded channel, with potential future developments in the areas of animation, TV series, movies, and documentaries.
Sky’s strategy
All of this fits into a broader strategic redesign in which Sky is reshaping its partnership perimeter based on the value perceived by its subscribers. This same logic explains the recent acquisitions of TV rights for basketball and rugby, the renewal of the UEFA agreement for Champions League rights from 2027–2031, and the ongoing negotiations with Liberty Media-Dorna for the renewal of MotoGP rights (whose current deal expires at the end of 2025). MotoGP currently finds itself with TV ratings halved, a championship of little interest, and no standout personalities apart from Marc Márquez — yet it is unlikely to give up its relationship with Sky (the platform that still guarantees the greatest visibility for the two-wheeled circus) and may simply accept a lower fee for the rights.
The end of the partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery
The agreement with Disney comes just as Sky Italia’s long relationship with Warner Bros. Discovery is officially coming to an end. As is already known, from 1 July 2025 all Eurosport, Discovery, and even the free-to-air channels of the WBD group disappeared from Sky. On 31 December 2025, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, all Warner films, and new HBO series will definitively leave the platform. HBO, controlled by WBD, was the home of flagship titles such as House of the Dragon, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, Succession, The Last of Us, The White Lotus, and The Pitt.
The future of HBO and Warner content on Sky
From 2026 onwards, Sky will still be able to broadcast new seasons of most of those existing franchises (with the exception of The Pitt), but no longer on an exclusive basis. However, it will no longer have direct access to new Warner or HBO films and brand-new series.
At least not directly. Because, thanks to the many new partnerships Sky is signing, Warner content that has “left through the door” may very well come back in “through the window” — possibly via Peacock, Netflix, or other platforms.
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