Several ABC stations, ESPN and other networks were pulled from DirecTV’s lineup on Sunday—with DirectTV’s estimated 11 million subscribers denied access to the U.S. Open, college football and NFL games—after the cable TV provider failed to reach a new carriage agreement with Disney, with no signs of any immediate resolution.
DirecTV “chose to deny” millions of viewers access to the U.S. Open and the NFL, Disney claims.
Disney pulled its networks from DirecTV at 7:20 p.m. EDT on Sunday during the fourth round of the U.S. Open and 10 minutes before the start of a football game between Louisiana State University and the University of Southern California.
The basic conflict, according to The Wall Street Journal, are over “an increase in fees Disney is seeking to carry some of its more popular channels” and DirecTV’s “desire for more flexibility in how it sells those channels”—especially in smaller, cheaper bundles than it can now.
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The blackout included live TV on Hulu, ESPN channels and ABC-owned stations in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Raleigh, North Carolina, in addition to channels for FX, National Geographic and Freeform, according to DirecTV.
11.3 million. That’s how many people are subscribed to DirecTV, making it the third-largest TV provider in the U.S., according to the Leichtman Research Group, a media analysis firm.
DirecTV—citing the success of shows like “Shogun,” which airs on Disney’s Hulu—has expressed frustration about companies featuring new shows on streaming platforms before they show up on cable channels. The provider said Disney is “taking an anti-consumer approach” by demanding a new deal that includes a bundle of Disney’s services, like Hulu, that would require consumers to pay more to access new shows. Last month, a judge issued a preliminary injunction against Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. over a planned sports-centric streaming service called Venu, ruling the service would “substantially lessen competition and restrain trade.”
This is the second straight year Disney has pulled programming over Labor Day weekend. Last September, coverage for the U.S. Open went dark as Disney failed to reach a carriage agreement with Charter. Disney claimed Charter had devalued its programming, while Charter requested free access to Disney’s streaming services for its subscribers. That dispute lasted 11 days, hours before the heavily popular “Monday Night Football.”
Some Comcast subscribers on the West Coast were blocked from viewing several college football games over the weekend amid a similar dispute with the Big Ten Network. That blackout will reportedly continue through next weekend and affect coverage for games featuring the University of Oregon, UCLA, the University of Southern California and the University of Washington.