ESPN, Disney, ABC channels and streaming services including Hulu were shut down for millions of DirecTV customers Sunday, as the networks were pulled by the network’s parent company Walt Disney Co. due to a contract dispute.
The services were disrupted on a busy night of sporting events, with the start of the new college football season for its first full weekend and ESPN airing the US Open tennis tournament. Fourth-round matches were underway at the US Open when ESPN’s broadcast was cut off on DirecTV at 7:20 p.m. EST, angering many viewers who took to social media to express their displeasure.
The power outage also occurred 10 minutes before the start of the football game between No. 13 Louisiana State University and No. 23 University of Southern California.
DirecTV, a provider of satellite television, internet and streaming services, has 11.3 million customers, according to Leichtman Research Group, making it the third-largest pay-TV provider in the country.
What is the fight about?
This is the second year in a row that ESPN has pulled its television programming during the U.S. Open. The dispute is over the fees DirecTV pays Disney to air its programming.
DirecTV said in a statement that Disney is “taking an anti-consumer approach” by requiring the new deal to include bundled services. DirecTV, for its part, wants to allow customers to subscribe to a la carte services on specific channels, which will make it easier for them to reduce their costs.
These disputes have led to numerous blackouts in recent years. Media companies have regularly clashed with pay-TV providers like DirecTV that distribute their content, particularly over how consumers can subscribe to and purchase channels and streaming services.
Distributors are also frustrated that production companies are placing some of their premium programming on direct-to-home platforms before it airs on channels.
DirecTV cited the “Shogun” miniseries that aired on Hulu before FX. DirecTV also said Disney offered an extension to keep the channels on the air in exchange for DirecTV waiving any future lawsuits that allege its conduct was anticompetitive.
“Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any responsibility to consumers, distribution partners and now the American justice system,” Rob Thun, DirecTV’s chief content officer, said in a statement.
Thun added that Disney’s requirements will make it more difficult for consumers “to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.”
In its own statement, Disney said it had given DirecTV “the flexibility and terms” it had offered other distributors. “We will not enter into a deal that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programming,” the company said.
—With reporting from the Associated Press.
