Millions of DirecTV customers likely won’t be able to watch the NFL season opener, “Monday Night Football,” on ESPN because the company has yet to reach an agreement with the network’s parent company. Disney As of Monday evening.
Disney’s television networks were removed from the air for DirecTV customers on Sept. 1 amid a broadcast-rights battle over rates and bundling. Those networks include pay-TV channels ESPN and FX, and broadcast network ABC in some markets.
Disney and DirecTV are unlikely to reach a deal in time for “Monday Night Football,” according to a person familiar with the matter, but talks are still ongoing and things could change, and a deal could be reached as soon as tomorrow, the person added.
The satellite and streaming companies have accused Disney of being anti-consumer because DirecTV has promoted the option to create genre-specific bundles for kids’ programming, entertainment and news, which Disney opposes.
As a result of the unrest, DirecTV customers were unable to watch the U.S. Open and the first weekend of the college football season.
Live sports continue to draw large audiences, resulting in expensive media rights deals that have resulted in some of the most expensive networks on TV. CNBC previously reported that ESPN is said to receive some of the highest fees that pay-TV companies pay to carry the network and its sister channels.
Meanwhile, sports have long been seen as the glue that holds traditional pay-TV subscriptions together as customers flock to streaming services, which have lost 4 million pay-TV customers so far this year, according to a recent MoffettNathanson report.
DirecTV’s distribution rights battle comes as the company’s latest ad campaign highlights its streaming options to grab consumer attention.
“The Walt Disney Company is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, its distribution partners and now the U.S. justice system,” DirecTV chief content officer Rob Sun said in a statement last week.
Last month, a US court ruled that Disney Fox Corporation and Warner Bros. Discovery The lawsuit was brought by internet TV bundle provider Fubo TV and backed by DirecTV and EchoStar’s Dish, in an attempt to block the service from launching in time for the NFL season.
The lawsuit alleges that Venu raises antitrust concerns. The companies also argue that Venu’s sports-only bundles will harm their business. Pay-TV distributors argue that streaming was originally a cheaper option, but high programming costs have inflated the price of those bundles, causing them to rapidly lose customers.
DirecTV also announced Friday that it would warn customers of competing alternatives for watching ESPN and offer customers a $30 credit.
DirecTV announced Saturday that it had filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, accusing Disney of failing to negotiate in good faith.
DirecTV said Disney “strongly urged DirecTV to agree to a ‘clean slate’ clause and a covenant not to sue, both of which are intended to prevent DirecTV from taking legal action regarding Disney’s anticompetitive demands, including filing a good faith complaint with the Commission.”
Disney said it was “ready to offer DirecTV the same flexibility and terms it has offered other distributors,” adding that it “will not enter into any agreement that undervalues ​​our portfolio of television channels and programming.”
“We definitely don’t want to go off the air. That’s not good for either side. It’s certainly not good for our customers. We’ve done everything we can,” ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told CNBC last week.
Disney later cited Nielsen research, adding that more than 90% of DirecTV households watched its channels monthly last year, making it the best-performing content on the platform. The company also said it was offering DirecTV a range of packages and was seeking pricing in line with its other distribution partners.
The NFL in particular has often been the catalyst for transportation disputes being resolved, with the most recent case occurring just last year.
Last September, cable giant Charter Communications Charter and Disney also went through a similar dispute that ultimately lasted 10 days, but Charter and Disney came to an agreement just hours before “Monday Night Football” was due to air, allowing customers to watch it that night.
Charter said last year that the pay-TV business model was broken, accusing Disney and other studios of repurposing their content for their own streaming services. Charter responded by demanding that customers be given access to Disney’s ad-supported streaming apps, Disney+ and ESPN+, at no extra charge.
ESPN’s Pitaro, in his comments last week, was referring to negotiations that took place with Charter a year ago.
“I know this deal was very difficult to get done, but I give Charter a lot of credit because they came into the room with a very specific idea. They had a vision that they wanted to execute,” Pitaro told CNBC.
The fight between DirecTV and Disney has created a mudslinging between the two companies that is reminiscent of most transportation industry disputes.
In this case, ESPN reporter Adam Schefter took to social media platform X to mention Monday’s matchup between the New York Jets and San Francisco 49ers on ESPN, and mentioned other platforms where DirecTV subscribers could sign up to watch the game.
DirecTV also expressed its displeasure.
“Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world, where we believe people must earn their own income and be held accountable for their actions,” DirecTV’s Toon said in a statement. “Disney continues to pursue maximum profits and control at the expense of consumers, making it harder for consumers to choose the programming and sports they want at the right price.”
