Disney pulls ESPN/ABC off DirecTV over carriage costs UPD resolved after ~2 weeks

[LadyStanley]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1830384447159447593

ABC off Disney owned affiliates

Click to read more...

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Strategically timed before a big NCAAF game between LSU and USC. Will anger a load of folks, but with DirectTV likely getting the lion’s share of the blame.

 

[TheLegend]

Statement from the Walt Disney Company.

Statement from The Walt Disney Company and ESPN regarding DirecTV

The following statement is from Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, Co-Chairmen, Disney Entertainment, and Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman, ESPN, regarding DirecTV:

espnpressroom.com

 

[MK9]

Both companies will sit and point the finger at each other. They'll try and convince the customer the other is at fault to put pressure on the other side to cave. As someone that worked in the industry for a handful of years, it's bulls***. It's absolutely 50/50. Anyone thinking it's more one side than the other is fooling themselves. At no point does either side give a crap about the customers. It's nothing but getting the best deal for their side. The customer bill is going to go up regardless, even if the deal is more favorable to the carrier as the carrier will raise fees eventually either way.

 

[brentashton]

So in other words, we at a Disney put a gun to DirecTVs head to sign a really one sided contract and, shit, they didn’t blink. So now we are making a lousy appeal to the same customers we gouge for subscriptions and everything else we sell, to plese convince DirectTV to sign this crazy deal we put in front of them.

Its simple right?

In no way do I condone Direct TV or Disney, both are pathetic organizations, but despicable that they are putting their customers, respectively, in the middle.

 

[End of Line]

Essentially a repeat of what happened with comcast a year ago yeah?

Thankfully my local ABC isn’t effected since it’s owned by Sinclair

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Strategically timed before a big NCAAF game between LSU and USC. Will anger a load of folks, but with DirectTV likely getting the lion’s share of the blame.

Yep idiots are putting blame on DirectTV

Disney is problem they have pulled this shit several times

They want more $ while giving less product and wanting people to sign up for Disney+ and Hulu

They can go f*** themselves

The idiots all "OMG Direct TV, blah, blah" are morons because guess what if Disney gets way your bill that you already bitch about is going up

People trying to say its 50/50 are wrong here IMO are wrong

The last few years Disney has done this shit along with several others. They know cable companies are under pressure and market is declining

Also, Disney and others limit years on contract so they can do this again in 2 years. So even if DirectTV/U-Verse cave they will have to deal with this again in 2 years

Also, they will have others pulling BS when their time comes

At the end of day the fact is just going back 10 years this stuff didn't happen much. Now we have it happening every year when Disney and others are involved

Disney/others gobbling up more and more TV stations and then jumping into streaming market is reason this BS keeps happening

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

I don't know why anybody would give any of these companies money just stream everything for free

 

[LadyStanley]

I don't know why anybody would give any of these companies money just stream everything for free

I am not aware of any free (legal) service that streams ABC or ESPN.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Both companies will sit and point the finger at each other. They'll try and convince the customer the other is at fault to put pressure on the other side to cave. As someone that worked in the industry for a handful of years, it's bulls***. It's absolutely 50/50. Anyone thinking it's more one side than the other is fooling themselves. At no point does either side give a crap about the customers. It's nothing but getting the best deal for their side. The customer bill is going to go up regardless, even if the deal is more favorable to the carrier as the carrier will raise fees eventually either way.

Both companies absolutely care about customers. There's no business out there that doesn't care about customers. They're the ultimate resource a business requires to survive. If everyone canceled their subscriptions tomorrow, people there would lose their jobs and those companies would face some serious difficulty.

What is more appropriate to say is that they don't respect customers. But there's a difference.

 

[Crease]

I moved to DirectTV after my RSN got into this with Fubo (still not resolved).

 

[nhlfan79]

I am not aware of any free (legal) service that streams ABC

Um, rabbit ears? The ABC station itself?

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I was in a local bar with a bunch of friends for our FF draft. The Braves/Phillies pregame was on, then suddenly every TV had on the LSU/USC game, and not one had the Braves on. We asked, and the manager (actually, owner I think) said that there was some sort of countdown until ESPN got cut, and it ended right before first pitch.

 

[Kane One]

Essentially a repeat of what happened with comcast a year ago yeah?

Thankfully my local ABC isn’t effected since it’s owned by Sinclair

NHL isn’t on ABC until the Thanksgiving game, no? And then after that game, not until January.

 

[SirJW]

Maybe, a pipe dream but hopefully DTV gets ESPN+ exclusive games or a way to pay for those games.

And yes as mentioned this happens all the time now, (Sinclair too) it always gets resolved.

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Both companies will sit and point the finger at each other. They'll try and convince the customer the other is at fault to put pressure on the other side to cave. As someone that worked in the industry for a handful of years, it's bulls***. It's absolutely 50/50. Anyone thinking it's more one side than the other is fooling themselves. At no point does either side give a crap about the customers. It's nothing but getting the best deal for their side. The customer bill is going to go up regardless, even if the deal is more favorable to the carrier as the carrier will raise fees eventually either way.

A pretty recent counterexample is what's going on with the NBA, TNT, and Amazon

 

[LadyStanley]

Um, rabbit ears? The ABC station itself?

Streaming. Most folks may be able to tune into ABC (but not ESPN) OTA.

FTR, I cannot get ABC nor CBS OTA channels at my house.

 

[Reaser]

NHL isn’t on ABC until the Thanksgiving game, no? And then after that game, not until January.

ABC 'traded' the "Thanksgiving Showdown" (Black Friday game) to TNT two years ago.

NHL on ABC scheduled started in Feb. two seasons ago. Last season a lone game in Jan then a break before regular Feb schedule start. This season will have three games in Jan, a break, then weekly starting in Feb.

 

[Kirk Van Houten]

News: Disney-DirecTV, Diamond, PGA-LIV

Disney fires back at DirecTV in new press release as carriage dispute continues. Plus: Court approves Diamond's deals with NBA and NHL.

www.sportsmediawatch.com

Three of Disney’s top executives released a statement Wednesday sharply criticizing DirecTV as a carriage dispute between the two companies inches closer to the start of the NFL season. Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman along with ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro filed a press release accusing DirecTV of misrepresenting the facts.

Disney later claimed that it is offering DirecTV packages that align with the distributor’s stated needs, including a sports-centric package. However, it’s unlikely that Disney is offering a deal that would allow those offerings to be included in a pared-down “skinny bundle” as DirecTV would like. The statement does mention that Disney is offering linear offerings bundled with the company’s direct-to-consumer offerings, similar to the agreement reached with Charter Communications last year. There was no indication about a timeline in which the carriage dispute could be resolved.

 

[Crease]

As a consumer I can get behind ESPN2, ESPNU, and other secondary channels being available only through buy-up plans, but ABC and ESPN should be available on all base plans.

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

I miss the days of cablevision. So easy. So many content options. Could watch my favorite teams. One bill.

 

[awfulwaffle]

As a consumer I can get behind ESPN2, ESPNU, and other secondary channels being available only through buy-up plans, but ABC and ESPN should be available on all base plans.

Why should ESPN be included on base plans?

 

[Bonk]

I just learned the FXX is a Disney channel. Huh. There goes my King of the Hill and Simpsons fixes.

 

[SirJW]

Disney Bought 20th Century FOX a few years back.

 

[mouser]

I moved to DirectTV after my RSN got into this with Fubo (still not resolved).

Similar, I switched to Sling from Fubo after they couldn’t resolve the Warner Bros Discovery channels dispute.