ESPN networks, ABC and Disney channels go dark on DirecTV on a busy night for sports
ESPN will not be available on a major network for the second year in a row, during the US Open tennis tournament and in the middle of the first full weekend of college football.
The Disney Entertainment channels were taken offline on DirecTV Sunday night after the parties were unable to reach a new agreement over the broadcasts.
The move angered some sports fans, who took to social media to voice their displeasure. And the U.S. Tennis Association was not happy about a new dispute over the car.
ESPN was airing the fourth round of the US Open when it was halted on DirecTV at 7:20 p.m. EDT.
That was half an hour before the start of the match between Frances Tiafoe, an American who reached the semifinals of the 2022 US Open, and Alexei Popyrin, an Australian who knocked out defending champion Novak Djokovic on Friday.
“It is disappointing that fans and viewers across the country will not have the opportunity to see the best athletes in our sport compete in the 2024 U.S. Open due to an unresolved negotiation between DirecTV and Disney, which resulted in the loss of access to ESPN. We hope this dispute can be resolved as quickly as possible,” the USTA said in a statement.
It also happened 10 minutes before the start of the American football game between number 13 LSU and number 23 Southern California in Las Vegas.
ABC stations in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Fresno, California, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston and Raleigh, North Carolina, also dropped DirecTV.
Last year, Disney and Spectrum, the nation’s second-largest cable TV provider, were at an impasse for nearly 12 days before reaching an agreement just hours before the first NFL game of the season on Monday night.
DirecTV said Disney offered an extension to keep the channels on the air in exchange for DirecTV waiving any future legal claims that its conduct is anti-competitive.
“The Walt Disney Co. is once again failing to provide accountability to consumers, distribution partners and now the U.S. justice system,” DirecTV Chief Content Officer Rob Thun said in a statement. “Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world where we believe you earn your own path and are accountable for your actions. They intend to continue their pursuit of maximum profit 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, making it the third-largest pay television provider in the country.
Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro released a joint statement urging DirecTV to complete a deal.
The statement added that “while we are open to offering DirecTV the flexibility and terms we have extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programming. We are investing significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that is what our viewers expect and deserve.”
The impasse comes as networks and distributors continue to disagree over content. Distributors and subscribers would like to see a model where they can buy channels a la carte rather than subscribing to a bundled package.
Distributors are also frustrated with production companies that place some of their premium programming on direct-to-consumer platforms before it appears on channels. DirecTV called the miniseries “Shogun,” which appeared on Hulu before FX.
“Consumer frustration is at an all-time high as Disney moves its best producers, most innovative shows, top teams, conferences and entire competitions to its direct-to-consumer services, while customers pay more than once for the same programming across multiple Disney platforms,” Thun said. “Disney’s only magic is forcing prices to go up while simultaneously making its content disappear.”
In addition to all ESPN Network channels and ABC stations, Disney-branded channels Freeform, FX and National Geographic Channel were also discontinued on DirecTV.
___
AP sport: https://apnews.com/hub/sports