Charter adds Warner Bros Discovery's streaming service at no extra charge

(Reuters) - Charter Communications will provide Warner Bros Discovery's Max streaming service and Discovery+ at no additional charge, the companies said on Thursday, potentially boosting the cable and broadband company's user base.

Shares of Warner Bros Discovery rose about 7% in morning trading, while those of Charter gained more than 2%.

In an early renewal of their multi-year deal, the companies said an ad-supported version of Max, which includes all HBO and Discovery+ content, will be available to all Spectrum TV Select packages. Charter is the nation's largest pay TV company.

Max and Discovery+ will be added to Spectrum's bundle, which already includes streaming platforms such as Disney+, ESPN+ and Paramount+.

As part of the agreement, Spectrum will continue to carry Warner Bros Discovery's TV network portfolio, including sports network TNT, CNN, Food Network and Discovery.

The media and entertainment giant's TV business has been struggling due to cord-cutting by consumers and weak recovery in the advertising market.

The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Investor concerns had grown after Warner Bros Discovery failed to renew broadcasting rights for the National Basket Association (NBA) games. The media company had sued NBA in New York after the league rejected its matching bid.

Charter won some concessions last year from Walt Disney. It negotiated for a smaller package of programming and gained rights to distribute Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ to its Spectrum TV customers.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)

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