OAN Staff Abril Elfi
9:59 AM – Saturday, September 14, 2024
DirecTV announced that it had reached an agreement with Walt Disney Co. to restore ESPN and ABC-owned stations to its service.
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On Saturday, DirectTV and Disney announced in a joint statement that they had reached an agreement after a nearly 2-week dispute that blacked out the networks for millions of viewers across the country.
“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. “DIRECTV and Disney have a long-standing history of connecting consumers to the best entertainment, and this agreement furthers that commitment by recognizing both the tremendous value of Disney’s content and the evolving preferences of DIRECTV’s customers. We’d like to thank all affected viewers for their patience and are pleased to restore Disney’s entire portfolio of networks in time for college football and the Emmy Awards this weekend.”
On September 1st, ESPN, the Disney Channel, FX, and other Disney-owned channels went dark on DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, and U-Verse TV systems after DirecTV’s five-year contract with Disney expired.
As a result, approximately 11 million DirecTV subscribers were unable to access those channels, as well as ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU, ESPN News, ACC Network, SEC Network, Disney Junior, and National Geographic.
The blackout also affected eight Disney-owned ABC stations, including those in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. Because of streaming agreements, all ABC affiliates are unavailable on DirecTV Stream.
The terms of the agreement were not disclosed. However, some conditions were imposed, including DirecTV’s ability to include Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ in certain plans and “genre-specific” programming packages such as sports, entertainment, and kids/family.
DirecTV will also be able to offer ESPN’s upcoming direct-to-consumer streaming service to its subscribers at no additional cost.
Rob Thun, DirecTV’s chief content officer, said in a blog post published on August 21st, 2024 that DirecTV had entered negotiations to be able to offer “smaller, more tailored packages at prices” that do not require all of a content provider’s channels to be combined into “fat bundles.”
“We appreciate our customers’ patience as we negotiated this challenging but vital agreement, which now provides them more flexibility and choice within a seamless entertainment experience,” DirecTV said.
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