Disney-owned channels including ABC and ESPN were pulled from DirecTV’s lineup on Sunday after talks between the two companies collapsed on a new distribution deal. The outage began during ESPN’s broadcast of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, just ahead of the upcoming weekend’s NFL season opener.
DirecTV and Disney each blamed the other for the outage. The only thing that’s certain is that DirecTV’s roughly 11 million subscribers were affected.
DirecTV says it can’t offer more flexible packages to better align with consumers’ interests, and that Disney is “lugging consumers” away from the internet by moving content to Disney-owned streaming services such as Hulu and Disney Plus television. Disney was also accused of making a last-minute request to drop all accusations of anti-competitive behavior, DirecTV reported.
“The Walt Disney Company has once again refused to accept any responsibility to consumers, distribution partners and now the U.S. judicial system,” DirecTV chief content officer Rob Thun said in a statement. “Disney is committed to creating alternative realities, but this is reality. The world, where we believe you can make money on your own terms, must be held accountable for their actions. They want to continue to pursue maximum profits and dominate control at the expense of consumers – making it harder for them to choose what they want at a reasonable price. programs and sports.
Disney says it won’t make deal that undervalues its portfolio
Meanwhile, Disney says its channels are worth paying a premium, but DirecTV refuses to pay.
“While we are willing to offer DirecTV’s flexibility and terms to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our television channels and programming portfolio. We are investing heavily to build the No. 1 brand in entertainment, news and sports because this is what our audiences expect and deserve,” the company said in a statement on its website. “We urge DirecTV to do what is in the best interest of its customers and finalize an agreement to resume our programming immediately.”
The deal that expires on Sunday was reportedly negotiated in 2019. Reuters. These contracts often intentionally expire during peak viewing periods to incentivize both parties to renegotiate. Still, shipping disputes are fairly common — Disney took similar action last year when it blocked Charter’s Spectrum subscribers’ channels during the U.S. Open on the same day. The blackout lasted twelve days before a new agreement was reached.
