ESPN has gone off the air on a major carrier for the second straight year during the U.S. Open tennis tournament and in the midst of the first full weekend of college football.
CNBC reports Disney Entertainment channels went dark on DirecTV Sunday night after the sides were unable to reach a new carriage agreement.
The move angered some sports fans, who posted their displeasure on social media. And the U.S. Tennis Association wasn’t pleased with another carriage dispute.
“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.
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 off 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.
“The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system,” said Rob Thun, DirecTV’s chief content officer, in a statement. “Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world where we believe you earn your way and must answer for your own actions. They want to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers — making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.”
DirecTV has 11.3 million subscribers, according to Leichtman Research Group, making it the nation’s third-largest pay TV provider.
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