Walt Disney and satellite television provider DirecTV have been unable to agree on a new distribution deal for ESPN, ABC and other Disney-owned networks, the companies confirmed Sunday, resulting in the loss of viewing for more than 11 million DirecTV subscribers.
The outage occurred during the U.S. Open tennis tournament and in the middle of the opening weekend of college football.
Similar impacts will be felt by the National Football League, which kicks off its season on Thursday and has ABC News scheduled a presidential debate for Sept. 10.
AP Reports The move infuriated many sports fans, who took to social media to post their frustrations, while the United States Tennis Association was similarly frustrated by a separate carriage dispute.
what @direct What you just did is disgusting. Doing this to your customers on a holiday weekend in the middle of the U.S. Open, MLB and college football games with millions watching. translation: Bad business for your customers.
— Nicole (@nikkinicole1908) September 1, 2024
WTF Directv and ESPN. pic.twitter.com/4RSyAn429L
— Thomas B (@BaseballThomasB) September 1, 2024
DirecTV loses ESPN and ABC ahead of USC-LSU game
myself: pic.twitter.com/DyT9zmhy8C
— Blake Garman (@FrostedBlakes34) September 1, 2024
DirecTV to drop ESPN and ABC #USC versus #Louisiana State University Games😂 pic.twitter.com/Y2cl6OQbxN
— Justus (@justusrogersTV) September 1, 2024
ESPN was broadcasting the fourth round of the U.S. Open, but its coverage ended on DirecTV at 7:20 p.m. ET.
It was 30 minutes before the start of a match between American Francis Tiafoe, a 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist, and Alexei Popyrin, the up-and-coming Australian who beat defending champion Novak Djokovic on Friday.
“We are disappointed that pending negotiations between DirecTV and Disney will mean fans and viewers across the country will not be able to watch ESPN and watch some of our sport's best athletes compete in the 2024 U.S. Open. We look forward to this dispute being resolved as soon as possible,” the USTA said in a statement obtained by The Associated Press.
The incident also occurred 10 minutes before kickoff of a college football game in Las Vegas between No. 13 LSU and No. 23 University of Southern California.
ABC-owned stations in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Fresno, California, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston and Raleigh, North Carolina have also stopped carrying DirecTV.
Last year, Disney and Spectrum, the nation's second-largest cable television provider, were locked in a nearly 12-day stalemate before reaching an agreement just hours before the first Monday night NFL game of the season.
DirecTV said Disney offered it an extension to continue airing the channels in exchange for waiving all future legal claims that its conduct was anti-competitive.
Disney disagreed with this summary.
“As we enter the final week of the U.S. Open and prepare for the start of the college football and NFL seasons, DirecTV has chosen to deny millions of subscribers access to our content,” Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro said in a press conference. release.
“We are open to providing DirecTV with the flexibility and terms we have offered other distributors, but we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programming. We are investing heavily to deliver the No. 1 brand in entertainment, news and sports that viewers expect and deserve. We urge DirecTV to do what is in the best interest of our customers and enter into an agreement that will immediately restore our programming,” the companies added.
All ESPN network channels and ABC-owned stations are no longer available on DirecTV, along with Disney-branded channels Freeform, FX and National Geographic Channel.
