What to know about the Disney, ESPN blackout on DirecTV

As someone who has been through several cable service disruptions in my time, I can empathize with those affected by the current blackout between DirecTV and Disney. It’s always frustrating to miss out on your favorite shows, especially when they involve sports or highly-anticipated events like the US Open or Monday Night Football.

On Sunday, Walt Disney Company removed ESPN and various other channels from DirecTV just moments before a significant USC football match began, and during the U.S. Open tennis competition – leaving sports enthusiasts frustrated amidst a heated contract disagreement.

As a passionate movie enthusiast, it was disheartening to find myself among over 10 million fellow DirectTV and U-Verse video subscribers who were unwillingly caught in the crossfire of a corporate dispute. Sadly, our access to Disney programming – which encompasses ABC television stations owned by Disney – was abruptly severed due to DirectTV losing the rights to carry these beloved shows.

For several weeks, the two firms were engaged in talks at DirecTV’s El Segundo office, yet they couldn’t reach an accord on a fresh licensing agreement before the September 1st cut-off date.

The recent power outage symbolizes the growing pressure on conventional TV networks, as viewers increasingly opt for streaming services.

According to Ross Benes, a senior analyst at Emarketer, consumers might point fingers at one party, but the truth is that both companies played a part in reaching this predicament.

Here’s what to know about the dispute:

Why is this happening?

Television service providers like DirectTV have faced significant hikes in programming license fees, largely due to a decline in their subscriber base because of people opting for cord-cutting. These broadcasters are finding it challenging to generate profits from their video channel operations and worry that excessive rate rises could further deter customers.

The prices for maintaining access to broadcast networks (such as ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC) and sports channels like ESPN have been rapidly escalating, since programmers are attempting to pass on the higher fees they’ve agreed to pay to sports leagues and conferences. With traditional pay-TV subscribers dwindling in number, these costs are increasingly being borne by them.

Directv requested Disney to be more lenient and allow them to provide smaller, themed packages consisting of genre-specific channels. Historically, Disney has mandated that pay-TV providers include its cable networks, such as ESPN, in the majority of their customer households. ESPN is known for being the most costly basic cable channel, with distributors shelling out almost $10 per month for each subscriber’s home.

One challenging aspect arising from the ongoing disagreement is Disney’s insistence on “minimum distribution” for their channels, such as ESPN. Specifically, Disney demands that ESPN should reach approximately 82% of DirecTV’s customer base.

For several years, the minimum viewing requirement policy has allowed Disney to accumulate substantial revenue, even from subscribers who seldom watch sports. Pay-TV firms face fines if they fall short of meeting this minimum requirement.

DirectTV asserts that since a significant minority (less than 40%) of their customers consistently enjoy Disney sports content, it’s unjust to make those viewers shoulder the expensive costs of sports programming. However, Disney maintains that they invest substantially in creating top-notch programming and have made their channels, such as ESPN, available to DirectTV at fair market prices.

DirecTV is trying to relax those penetration rates, and fees that it must pay when it doesn’t meet the threshold.

As a passionate film aficionado, I’ve come across an interesting fact: though just 10% of the satellite service’s customer base consistently enjoys children’s content, an astonishing 80% of its subscribers are actually shelling out for those very same channels.

In addition, DirecTV and other distributors also have been chafing over efforts by Disney and other entertainment giants to build their own streaming services, which compete with their long-time partners, the pay-TV companies. Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox Corp. this year teamed up to build a sports streaming service, Venu, as an alternative to companies like DirecTV. The effort was challenged in court, and a federal judge in New York granted a preliminary injunction that temporarily blocks Venu’s launch.

How long will this dispute last?

That’s unclear.

About a year back, another disagreement, this time between Disney and Charter Communications (the company behind Spectrum), stretched on for 12 days.

After a heated dispute, Charter ceased broadcasting some smaller Disney-owned networks such as Freeform and secured access to offer Disney streaming packages like Disney+ as part of their package deal. Unfortunately, this outage led to a higher number of subscriber losses for Charter than they had expected.

Just as I was about to settle down for ESPN’s opening “Monday Night Football” matchup of the season, the power outage came to an end.

Typically, a dispute ends when both sides feel the economic pain.

“Benes pointed out that there’s usually a lot riding on these situations. If DirecTV doesn’t provide ESPN channels over the next three months, it may accelerate the trend of people canceling their cable subscriptions even further. This could potentially be another significant step towards DirecTV’s demise.”

What programs might be affected?

As a follower residing in one of the cities catered by a Disney-owned ABC television station, like KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles, I’ll experience an interruption in some beloved shows such as “Good Morning America,” “Jeopardy,” and local newscasts, along with local news broadcasts, as well as well as local newscasts. Disney operates eight ABC stations across various cities including San Francisco, Fresno, New York, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, and Raleigh-Durham.

Currently, many sports enthusiasts are experiencing disappointment due to missing out on the USC vs Louisiana State University game. The 23rd-ranked Trojans managed an exhilarating last-minute win against the 13th-ranked Tigers in this matchup on Sunday.

This weekend, ESPN holds the broadcasting rights for the US Open tennis tournament, which currently features both the men’s and women’s quarterfinals and semifinals.

College football is also huge on ABC and ESPN.

Every Monday sets the stage for ‘Monday Night Football’ on ESPN and ABC, where we get to see the New York Jets taking on the San Francisco 49ers – both teams that are popular among viewers of ABC-affiliant stations. This week’s. The highly anticipated match is known for Aaron Rodgers’ comeback, who sustained a season-ending injury in last year’s opening ‘MNF’.

On September 10th, ABC will be holding the initial presidential debate featuring Vice President Kamala Harris and ex-President Trump. Noteworthy, other broadcasting stations will be airing ABC’s coverage of this debate.

eed:

Is there a work-around?

y: Theenard

ure:

Can I get a refund?

Herees

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2024-09-04 04:03