DirecTV and Disney Resolve Dispute, Ending Blackout of ABC and ESPN
After a 13-day carriage dispute, Disney and DirecTV have reached a new agreement, restoring ABC, ESPN and other networks.
The resolution comes one day ahead of the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, which air Sunday at 8/7c on ABC.
“Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, DirecTV and Disney are giving customers the ability to tailor their video experience through more flexible options,” the companies said in a joint statement on Saturday. “We’d like to thank all affected viewers for their patience and are pleased to restore Disney’s entire portfolio of networks in time for college football and the Emmy Awards this weekend.”
Among the core points in the agreement are the opportunity to offer multiple genre-specific options inclusive of Disney’s linear networks along with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+; Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+) will now be included in select DirecTV packages, and can be purchased a la carte; continued carriage of Disney’s comprehensive linear portfolio; and rights to distribute Disney’s upcoming ESPN flagship direct-to-consumer service upon its launch at no additional cost to DirecTV customers.
The agreement comes after ABC, ESPN and other Disney networks went dark on Sept. 1 for DirecTV customers. DirecTV chief content officer Rob Thun accused Disney of “once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system.” He added: “Disney’s only magic is forcing prices to go up while simultaneously making its content disappear.”
Disney, meanwhile, released its own statement, saying, “We will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs.”
In September 2023, Disney faced a similar conflict with Spectrum, who said in a statement that the clash was “not a typical carriage dispute.” The dispute was resolved days later, but with changes in customers’ channel lineups.
You can typically watch most television shows on Hulu for free with ads, but there is typically a waiting period for those without a subscription, so instead of next day access you might have to wait a week.
Hulu hasn’t a free, non-subscriber version since 2016.
A. Hulu has not had a free tier for many years now.
B. In terms of carrying shows from network TV, Hulu only carries ABC and FOX. NBC and CBS shows go to Peacock and Paramount+, respectively.
C. It’s Bruton, not Burton! haha
As as “thank you for your patience” gesture over the last 13 days, not only is DirecTV not offering any credits to their loyal customers, but is increasing the price of their packages to include access to their app that less than half of those customers are either gonna use anyway (or already paying for it), while those who have zero interests in sports aren’t provided the option to opt-out of ESPN, which amounts to, what, 10$ per month nowadays? More?
The paying customer never wins.
Directv is offering a $20 credit. Mine is already credited to my account.
My credit offer on tvpromise.com was $30. Also they do offer a package without ESPN as I have that one.
Always directTv having some dispute. They’ve been doing this stuff for 20 years now…
Congress must regulate these services. Prices go up and service goes down. They continue to offer new channels with what was included content then charge to get these channels.
DirecTV and Disney may have settled their dispute but we, who have DirecTV STILL got an increase in our bill for outages due to the “possibility”of rain, frozen screen images and even the screen going completely black!!
My husband is finally fed up. We are dropping Directv after football season. He will look into Fubo, YouTubeTV, Hulu Live, etc for next football season. I have slowly gotten use to finding what I want to watch on streamers. My main appeal to DirecTV is the DVR.