Walt Disney and satellite TV provider DirecTV have failed to agree a fresh distribution deal for ESPN, ABC and other Disney-owned networks, with the companies confirming Sunday upwards of 11 million DirecTV subscribers now lose access as a result.
The blackout came during the U.S. Open tennis tournament and in the midst of the first full weekend of college football.
Similarly impacted are the National Football League which kicks off its season Thursday while ABC News’ scheduled presidential debate on Sept. 10.
AP reports the move outraged plenty of sports fans, who posted their displeasure on social media while the U.S. Tennis Association was similarly underwhelmed with another carriage dispute.
ESPN was showing the fourth round of the U.S. Open when it went off the air on DirecTV at 7:20 p.m. ET.
That was a half-hour before the start of the match between Frances Tiafoe, an American who reached the 2022 U.S. Open semifinals, and Alexei Popyrin, a rising Australian who eliminated defending champion Novak Djokovic on Friday.
“It is disappointing that fans and viewers around the country will not have the opportunity to watch the greatest athletes in our sport take part in the 2024 U.S. Open due to an unresolved negotiation between DirecTV and Disney, resulting in the loss of access to ESPN. We are hopeful that this dispute can be resolved as quickly as possible,” the USTA said in a statement as seen by AP.
It also happened 10 minutes before the start of the college football game between No. 13 LSU and 23rd-ranked Southern California in Las Vegas.
ABC-owned stations in Los Angeles; the San Francisco Bay Area; Fresno, California; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Houston; and Raleigh, North Carolina, also went dark on DirecTV.
Last year, Disney and Spectrum — the nation’s second-largest cable TV provider — were involved in a nearly 12-day impasse until coming to an agreement hours before the first Monday night NFL game of the season.
DirecTV said Disney offered an extension to keep the channels on the air in exchange for DirecTV having to waive all future legal claims that its behavior is anti-competitive.
Disney disagreed with that summation.
“DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the US Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season,” said Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, co-chairmen, Disney Entertainment, and Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN, in a press release.
“While we’re open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we’ve extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs. We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve. We urge DirecTV to do what’s in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming,” they added.
Besides all ESPN network channels and ABC-owned stations, Disney-branded channels Freeform, FX and National Geographic channel went dark on DirecTV.