ESPN, ABC, Disney Channels Go Dark on DirecTV During Sports Heavy Night

For the second consecutive year, ESPN has gone off the air on a significant carrier during a key sports weekend, including the U.S. Open tennis tournament and the initial full weekend of college football.

Disney Entertainment channels, inclusive of ESPN, were discontinued on DirecTV Sunday night due to a failure to reach a new carriage agreement between the two parties.

The occurrence has provoked frustration among sports fans, who have taken to social media to express their discontent. The U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) has also expressed displeasure over this carriage dispute.

The disruption happened at 7:20 p.m. EDT while ESPN was airing the fourth round of the U.S. Open. Notably, this event occurred half an hour before the match featuring Frances Tiafoe, an American semifinals participant in the 2022 U.S. Open, against Alexei Popyrin, an Australian who recently eliminated defending champion Novak Djokovic.

In a statement, the USTA remarked, “It is disappointing that fans and viewers around the country will not have the opportunity to watch the greatest athletes in our sport take part in the 2024 U.S. Open due to an unresolved negotiation between DirecTV and Disney, resulting in the loss of access to ESPN. We are hopeful that this dispute can be resolved as quickly as possible.”

The blackout occurred just 10 minutes before the commencement of the college football game between No. 13 LSU and 23rd-ranked Southern California in Las Vegas. Additionally, ABC-owned stations in major cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco Bay Area, Fresno, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, and Raleigh also went off DirecTV.

Previously, Disney and Spectrum, the nation’s second-largest cable TV provider, had a nearly 12-day standoff last year that culminated in an agreement hours before the first Monday night NFL game of the season.

DirecTV stated that Disney had proposed an extension, yet it required DirecTV to waive all future legal claims concerning Disney’s anti-competitive behavior.

Rob Thun, DirecTV’s chief content officer, remarked in a statement, “The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system. 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.”

According to Leichtman Research Group, DirecTV has 11.3 million subscribers, positioning it as the nation’s third-largest pay TV provider.

A joint statement from Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, co-chairmen of Disney Entertainment, and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro urged DirecTV to finalize a deal. They emphasized that while they are open to offering DirecTV flexibility similar to other distributors, they will not sign an agreement that undervalues their portfolio of television channels and programs.

“We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve,” the statement added.

The deadlock underscores ongoing tensions between networks and distributors over content. Distributors and subscribers favor a model allowing them to purchase channels a la carte, opposed to traditional bundling packages.

Another point of contention is production companies placing premium programs on direct-to-consumer platforms prior to their availability on traditional channels. DirecTV, for instance, pointed out the miniseries “Shogun” appearing on Hulu before FX.

Thun commented, “Consumer frustration is at an all-time high as Disney shifts its best producers, most innovative shows, top teams, conferences, and entire leagues to their direct-to-consumer services while making customers pay more than once for the same programming on multiple Disney platforms. Disney’s only magic is forcing prices to go up while simultaneously making its content disappear.”

Besides ESPN network channels and ABC-owned stations, Disney-branded channels such as Freeform, FX, and National Geographic channel also went dark on DirecTV.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports

Source: AP News