DirecTV Subscribers Are Temporarily without Beloved Disney Channels
Are you a fan of Disney-owned channels like ABC and ESPN? If you are a DirecTV subscriber, sorry to break it to you, but these channels have gone dark thanks to a new TV dispute. This hiccup has left millions of viewers in the United States without access to their favorite programs.
Believe it or not, DirecTV and Disney are currently in a stalemate over a TV carriage conflict. For novices, a TV carriage dispute is simply a disagreement over the cost to carry a channel. And what terrible timing! Just when the LSU-USC college football game was about to go live. Furthermore, with the NFL season only a week away, sports lovers are flipping their lids!
Disappointment from Disney’s Heavyweights
Enter Disney’s Dana Walden, Alan Bergman, and Jimmy Pitaro. They’re big cheeses at Disney and have not held back their frustrations in a joint statement. They’ve unapologetically shaded DirecTV for their decision, right at a time when fans are buzzing over the final week of the U.S Open, college football, and the opening of the NFL season.
Disney is open to lenient terms, like those offered to other distributors. However, they simply won’t tolerate a deal that downscales their range of channels and programs. After all, quality entertainment is what viewers expect and deserve from a top-dog like Disney. They’ve suggested DirecTV find a solution pronto to get the programs rolling again.
DirecTV vs. Disney: Not the First Round
It seems DirecTV isn’t the only one to lock horns with Disney over a TV package. Last year, Charter Spectrum subscribers lost access to Disney channels for two long weeks due to a similar fallout. Luckily, peace was restored after they struck a deal that allowed Spectrum customers to enjoy Disney+ and ESPN+ at zero extra charge.
The DirecTV Camp Weighs In
DirecTV, with its whopping 11 million subscribers, is a titan in the TV provider circuit. Thinking ahead, DirecTV’s CEO Thaddeus Thun released an open letter late in August, indicating they were buckling up for a tough negotiation. Without mentioning Disney, he advocated more adaptable, genre-based programming packages.
Unfortunately, Justin Connolly, Disney’s distribution president, didn’t think much of Thun’s idea. He rebutted Thun’s claims, stating they were open to such flexible options but received no response from DirecTV. He even claimed that DirecTV’s proposals lacked needed detail, making it more difficult to crack a deal.
What Does the Future Hold?
Let’s face it, without Disney channels, DirecTV users are certainly feeling a pinch. Right now, the pressure’s on both companies to sort this out fast. In the meantime, let’s cross our fingers and keep hoping for that peaceful resolution. After all, we don’t want to miss out on the next big sports event or our favorite Disney classics, do we? The ball is in their court now.Check the full story onhttps://projectcasting.com/blog/news/directv-loses-espn-and-disney-channels