Disney — whose networks have been dark on DirecTV since Sept. 1 amid a carriage dispute — on Friday launched a campaign to alert DirecTV customers that they have “plenty of options” to get ABC, ESPN and others from rival providers.
The message reads, “Hey DirecTV customers! Missing your favorite ABC and ESPN programming! No need to worry.” It continues, “There are plenty of options to get every channel you love from one of these providers” — listing Dish Network and Sling, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Comcast’s Xfinity, Charter’s Spectrum TV, Fubo, Cox, Optimum and Mediacom.
Disney’s graphic features ESPN’s “Monday Night Football,” which kicks off Sept. 9 with the Jets-49ers matchup, the U.S. Open tennis tournament on ESPN, and ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars,” “9-1-1,” “Abbott Elementary” and “ABC World News Tonight With David Muir.”
The Mouse House’s campaign is par for the course in such TV distribution feuds. And the messaging, coming on day 6 of the Disney blackout on DirecTV, signals that the two sides are not close to reaching a new deal at this point.
Disney is sharing the call to action across Facebook and Instagram social accounts for its networks and streaming services, including those for ABC, NatGeo, Disney+ and ESPN.
After months of haggling, DirecTV and Disney were still far apart in renewal talks leading up to the Sunday expiration of their prior agreement, resulting in ESPN, ABC, Disney Channel and the rest of Disney’s site of networks getting yanked from the satellite and streaming TV provider’s lineup.
DirecTV has argued that Disney is demanding higher prices for a contract renewal that would be passed down to consumers. “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,” Rob Thun, chief content officer at DirecTV, said in a statement. 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 has said the terms it is offering DirecTV are in line with deals it has reached with other pay-TV operators. The media conglomerate also claimed that it has tried to accommodate DirecTV’s demands for greater “flexibility” packaging Disney’s networks, including by offering a sports-centric tier that includes ESPN and ABC.
On Wednesday, Disney released in a statement attributed to Disney Entertainment chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN chief Jimmy Pitaro that said in part, “DirecTV continues to misrepresent the facts around our ongoing negotiations. Our priority is to reach a marketplace deal that serves the needs of DirecTV and their customers while also recognizing the value of our top-quality content and the significant investment required to create and acquire it.”
Last summer, Disney was engaged in a similar dispute with large cable operator Charter Communications that resulted in an agreement that removed Disney networks such as Freeform from Charter’s service. At the same time, Charter got rights to offer Disney+ and ESPN+ to select TV subs, available for no additional charge.
Earlier this week, DirecTV CFO Ray Carpenter said, “We don’t have any dates drawn in the sand,” as far as clinching a pact with Disney, adding that DirecTV is “not playing a short-term game.”
(Pictured, top: U.S. tennis player Frances Tiafoe, who will take on fellow American Taylor Fritz in a men’s semifinal match Friday night at the 2024 U.S. Open in New York)
Source Agencies
