Just a year after a big disagreement with Spectrum, Disney is now having trouble with DirecTV.
“The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system,” said DirecTV’s chief content officer Rob Thun in a statement after Disney channels like ABC and ESPN went dark on Sunday. “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.”
Disney Entertainment bosses Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, along with ESPNDisney chairman Jimmy Pitaro, fired back in their own statement, accusing DirecTV of blocking “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.”
“We will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs,” they added.
Thun argued further that, “Disney’s only magic is forcing prices to go up while simultaneously making its content disappear.”
A similar issue happened in September 2023 between Disney and Spectrum. Spectrum called it “not a typical carriage dispute.” They solved it after a few days, but customers saw changes in their channel options. While channels like ESPN, Disney Channel, FX, and Nat Geo came back, others like Freeform, FXX, Disney Junior, Disney XD, FXM, Baby TV, Nat Geo Wild, and Nat Geo Mundo were removed from Spectrum TV packages.
We hope these companies can work things out soon because it’s frustrating for fans to miss their favorite shows.
Sometimes these disputes feel like a never-ending cycle.