ESPN To Be Exclusive Sports Content Provider For Verizon V Cast

Verizon Wireless and Disney-owned ESPN have inked a deal in which ESPN will be the sole sports content provider to Verizon's V Cast subscribers. The terms of the deal were left undisclosed including when the exclusivity clause comes to an end. while subscribers to other mobile content services can still access ESPN online, the imperfections of streaming video off of sites not specifically suited to mobile content will mean only Verizon's V Cast subscribers will have access to ESPN's specially modified mobile content. Of Verizon Wireless' 59 million subscribers, roughly a third have V Cast enabled technology on their handsets. V Cast offers an array of multimedia applications and costs $15 a month; the new ESPN sports news and video highlights service will be included free of additional charge to V Cast subscribers.

Sources: Business Week, Washington Post, Cnet
Commentary: Verizon Happily Rejected Chance To Be Sole iPhone Service Provider, Verizon's New Mobile TV Service Announced At CES, Is A Disney-Apple Wireless Alliance Brewing?
Stocks/ETFs to watch: Verizon (VZ), Vodafone (VOD), Disney (DIS). Competitors: AT&T (T), Sprint Nextel (S). ETFs: PowerShares Dynamic Telecom & Wireless ETF (PTE), Wireless HOLDRS (WMH)

Seeking Alpha's news summaries are combined into a pre-market briefing called Wall Street Breakfast. Get Wall Street Breakfast by email -- it's free and takes only a few seconds to sign up.