Both Newsy and Cheddar announced distribution deals with traditional pay-TV providers.

Newsy will be extending its reach by 26M households through deals with:
1) Comcast
2) AT&T
3) Spectrum

Cheddar is being added to both the X1 platform and Xfinity on-demand through its deal with Comcast.

Why does this matter? Traditional networks are racing to go digital, but we see digital networks go the opposite direction.

Why is this good for Cheddar/Newsy? They both get to expand their reach into households that are still watching linear TV. In some cases, they are also negotiating carriage fees that allow them to generate revenue from each pay-TV subscriber.

Why is this good for the pay-TV provider? The pay-TV provider’s top goal is to keep as many people locked into thebundle as possible. These networks appeal to younger consumers (millennials, etc.) and the idea is that their addition may entice them to keep their pay-TV subscription for longer.

More. ‘The future of cable’: Looking beyond Facebook, publishers eye streaming TV bundles