ESPN’s coverage of the US Open is down DirectTV Users after Disney released a spotlight on all of its networks on Sunday. This comes after the 2019 agreement between the two companies expired without a new agreement for a licensing agreement.
Not surprisingly, DirecTV and Disney disagree about which company is to blame. “The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing to be accountable to consumers, distribution partners and now the American court system,” said Rob Thun, DIRECTV’s chief content officer. statement. “They want to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers – making it difficult for them to choose the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.”
DirecTV’s release also claimed that Disney had to agree to drop all claims that Disney’s conduct was anticompetitive in order to proceed with the deal at the last minute. The provider later called out Disney for being unpopular with many of DirecTV’s customers. He also took issue with Disney putting on “top programming.” Bear and Crimes on the Building Only, on direct streaming services While flooding ABC with “cheaply produced primetime game shows, unscripted spinoffs, old ABC hits or simulcast content.”
In contrast, Disney claimed DirecTV has “chose” to deny its subscribers access to the content. “While we are open to offering DirecTV the flexibility and terms we offer to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that devalues our portfolio of television channels and programming,” said co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman. Disney Entertainment and Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman ESPN. “We are making significant investments to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because our viewers expect and deserve it. We urge DirecTV to do what is in the best interest of its customers and complete a deal that will immediately restore our programming.”
A similar disagreement happened at the same time last year. In this case, Disney pulled their networks from the Spectrum within 12 days Until they struck a new deal with Spectrum’s parent company, Charter. The deal brought back channels like ABC and ESPN, and Spectrum TV Select and Select Plus subscribers also got access to the Disney+ base tier and ESPN+ (Select Plus users only). In its release, DirecTV called out this example, claiming that “Disney is once again taking an anti-consumer approach.”
