OAN Staff James Meyers
11:06 AM – Monday, September 2, 2024
ABC, Disney, ESPN stations and streaming services that includes Hulu were not available for DirecTV customers on Sunday, as the networks were pulled by network parent Walt Disney Company over a contract dispute.
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The popular services were not available on a busy night for sports events, as the 2024 college football season began its first full weekend and ESPN was airing the U.S. Open tennis tournament.
Many viewers took to social media to air out their frustrations.
The blackout happened just 10 minutes before the start of the football game between No. 23 University of Southern California (USC) and No.13 Louisiana State University (LSU) on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, DirecTV, which is a provider of satellite TV, internet and streaming services, has 11.3 million customers, according to Leichtman Research Group, making it the third-biggest pay TV provider in the U.S.
This makes it the second straight year that ESPN has gone off the air on TV during the U.S. Open. The dispute focuses on the so-called carriage fees that DirecTV pays Disney to broadcast its programming.
However, the cable company has stated that Disney is “taking an anti-consumer approach.”
“The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system,” Rob Thun, chief content officer at DirecTV, 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.”
Additionally, the dispute also forced other networks to become unavailable, including FX, National Geographic and Freeform.
“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,” Disney Entertainment chiefs Dana Walden, Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a statement. “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. We urge DirecTV to do what’s in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming.”
Furthermore, recent disputes over the years have caused multiple blackouts. Multiple media companies have clashed with pay TV providers on how to distribute their content, including over how consumers can subscribe to and purchase channels and streaming services.
Distributors have also been frustrated with production companies putting some of their premium programming on direct-to-consumer platforms before they show up on channels.
DirecTV also stated that Disney offered an extension to keep the channels on the air in exchange for DirecTV having to waive all future legal claims that its behavior is anti-competitive.
In its own statement, Disney said it had extended “flexibility and terms” to DirecTV that it has offered other distributors. “We will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs,” the company said.
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