Sky Loss Is a Disappointment for Disney Ambitions

Disney must now continue strategy of controlling distribution platforms without a TV operator that would have given it an immediate presence in more than 23 million homes

LOS ANGELES—Walt Disney Co. didn’t win Sky PLC as part of its acquisition of 21st Century Fox Inc. assets, but the end to the unusual bidding war leaves rival Comcast Corp. paying a sum that will benefit Disney as a minority owner of the British pay-TV operator.

Comcast’s victorious $38.8 billion bid for Sky on Saturday complicates Disney’s companywide direct-to-consumer strategy, and leaves the company without an asset that Chief Executive Robert Iger once called a “crown jewel” of the Fox acquisition.

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