Disney Networks ABC, ESPN Go Dark on DirecTV as Carriage Talks Collapse, 11 Million Subscribers Impacted

Over 11 million DirecTV subscribers looking to access programming from Disney’s linear networks will be left in the dark after the two parties failed to come to a new carriage agreement ahead of the current pact’s expiration on Sunday.

The programming blackout comes ahead of a busy month for the House of Mouse, including the start of the college football and NFL seasons and the telecasts of the first presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump and 2024 Emmys on ABC. The blackout took place just moments before the USC vs. LSU college football game was set to air in Sunday primetime.

“Disney is demanding that customers pay for channels they don’t watch and pony up for Disney’s streaming services, whether they want them or not,” a DirecTV spokesperson said. “And even more frustrating and incredulous is that, earlier today, Disney demanded that to reach a deal, we must waive all future legal claims that its behavior is anti-competitive.”

In a statement, Disney Entertainment co-chairpersons Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said, “DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the U.S. Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season. While we’re open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we’ve extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs.”

“The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system,” DirecTV’s chief content officer Rob Thun said in a statement. “Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world where we believe you earn your way and must answer for your own actions. They want to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers – making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.”

“Consumer frustration is at an all-time high as Disney shifts its best producers, most innovative shows, top teams, conferences, and entire leagues to their direct-to-consumer services while making customers pay more than once for the same programming on multiple Disney platforms,” Thun added. “Disney’s only magic is forcing prices to go up while simultaneously making its content disappear.”

“We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve,” Disney’s execs added. “We urge DirecTV to do what’s in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming.”

Disney-owned networks normally available on DirecTV include ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU, ESPN News, SEC Network, ACC Network, FX, FX Movie Channel, FXX, Freeform, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, and BabyTV.

The blackout with DirecTV comes about a year after Disney and Charter Communications entered a similar carriage dispute, which was resolved after 10 days. The two parties ended up reaching a first-of-its-kind agreement that would bundle Disney+ and ESPN+ with Spectrum TV Select Packages.

While Spectrum continues to carry ABC-owned stations, Disney Channel, FX, the Nat Geo Channel and the full suite of ESPN networks, the carriage agreement allowed Charter to drop Baby TV, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FXM, FXX, Nat Geo Wild and Nat Geo Mundo from its Spectrum TV video packages.

Though DirecTV expressed an openness to an agreement with Disney similar to the Charter deal, it has pointed to analyst estimates that less than 10% of Charter customers have activated Disney+ and that less than 4% have used ESPN+.

The dispute comes as DirecTV recently supported Fubo in its legal fight against Venu Sports, Disney’s sports streaming joint venture with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox, over antitrust concerns surrounding the launch of the offering. A judge has since blocked Venu’s launch, with the three media giants appealing the decision and a pretrial conference set for Sept. 12.

More to come…

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