Walt Disney Co. networks, including ESPN and ABC stations, have been removed from DirectTV after negotiations between the satellite company and media giant collapsed on Sunday.
The blackout impacts around 11 million customer homes.
Making matters worse for DirectTV subscribers is that the blackout occurred just before a highly anticipated college football game between Southern California and Louisiana State on ABC. What’s more, it also comes amid ESPN’s ongoing coverage of the US Open and a week before the sports network’s Monday Night Football premier.
In the aftermath of the blackout, both DirectTV and ESPN blamed each other for the fiasco.
ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro released a joint statement with Disney executives Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, claiming ‘DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the US Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season.’
In its statement, Disney/ESPN/ABC bemoaned the timing of the DirectTV blackout
DirectTV is accusing Disney of charging viewers for channels they don’t watch
DirectTV Chief Content Officer Rob Thun shot back in a statement of his own: ‘The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system.’
In its press release, DirectTV accused Disney of an ‘anti-consumer approach’ that forces ‘DirectTV and other TV distributors… to pay for channels they don’t watch.’
Other broadcasts that could be impacted are ESPN’s Monday Night Football, which premiers on September 9 when the San Francisco 49ers face the New York Jets.
Also, ABC affiliates owned directly by Disney have also been pulled from DirectTV, which could result in viewers missing local news, their favorite game shows like ‘Wheel of Fortune’ and talk shows such as ‘Good Morning American’ and ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live.’
Emma Navarro (L) hugs Coco Gauff after winning their women’s singles round of 16
Zachariah Branch #1 of the USC Trojans gestures to the crowd before Sunday’s kickoff
A similar dispute between Disney and Spectrum TV ended in a 12-day blackout in 2023, but that may not offer any indication of what how long this blackout could last on DirectTV.
Fans online were split over whom to blame.
‘@DIRECTV Fix it now or you’re losing a long time (sic) customer,’ one wrote on X. ‘Sports is all I watch. Missing my Braves game on my holiday weekend.’
Another added: ‘Yup I’ll be canceling my @DIRECTV asap.’
Others blamed Disney.
‘This keeps happening with disney channels,’ wrote on critic. ‘That’s why I’m disappointed every time ESPN gets extensions on the playoffs.’
Pay-TV continues to face problems with canceled subscriptions. The industry lost 2.4 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2024.
Disney is known for charging distributors $10 per subscriber per month for ESPN’s array of networks – revenue that the media giant uses to buy league media rights.
