Disney, DirecTV end blackout of ESPN, ABC as football season ramps up
Disney and DirecTV reached a deal over the weekend to restore service to the Mouse House’s “entire portfolio of networks,” including ESPN and ABC, as the college and pro football seasons kick into high gear.
The agreement follows a two-week blackout of Disney-owned networks for DirecTV that had extended through the US Open, a range of college football games, the season premiere of “Monday Night Football,” and the presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, which was hosted by ABC.
DirecTV’s 11 million subscribers had had no access to Disney-owned channels since Sept. 1, when licensing renewal talks collapsed, kicking off a two-week standoff between the companies.
At issue was the ability for DirecTV customers to have more flexibility in the channels that are part of its package with Disney. The company argued that streaming companies allow for such flexibility.
Most contracts have required pay TV distributors to charge subscribers for all of a company’s channels whether they want them or not. For instance, DirecTV subscribers may watch Disney-owned ESPN and ESPN 2 but not the Disney Junior channel and FX.
In the new deal, customers with the satellite provider can now choose more genre-specific packages like sports or family programming to better compete with streaming offerings. DirecTV customers can also add Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+, Disney’s streaming services, to packages.
“Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, DirecTV and Disney are giving customers the ability to tailor their video experience through more flexible options,” the companies said in a joint statement on Saturday.
During the company’s earnings call, DirecTV chief marketing officer Vince Torres said on Thursday that the two-week blackout had made his company lose customers. He did not specify a number, he said the defections were “not immaterial.”
The pullback comes as DirecTV has hemorrhaged subscribers in recent years as customers opt to drop their cable packages in favor of streaming.
A carriage dispute between Disney and Charter Communications, Spectrum’s parent, led to a nearly two-week blackout around this time last year, and was resolved hours before ESPN’s “MNF” opener that pitted the Jets against the Buffalo Bills.
