For a long time, multichannel video programming distributors (MVPDs) such as cable or satellite companies like DirecTV were known for bashing each other in an attempt to gain customers. Now, though, amidst an ongoing carriage dispute with Disney (affecting ESPN, all ABC owned-and-operated affiliates, and all ABC affiliates on either DirecTV Stream or the streaming DirecTV app), DirecTV is offering deals to subscribe to other MVPDs (including once-fierce rivals such as Dish’s Sling) as a stop-gap measure. Here’s more on that from a release Friday night, on how they plan to give customers football “on us”:
As the leaves turn each fall, you can be sure of two things – football season will be in full swing, and Disney will do everything it can to keep you from watching your favorite team unless they offer it to you exclusively (oh, Disney now owns all of Hulu too). Don’t take our word for it. You can ask Spectrum customers in 2023, DISH customers in 2022, or YouTube TV customers in 2021.
Unfortunately, Disney is back at it again, this time targeting DIRECTV customers. That’s why we’re giving you more ways to watch this weekend’s college football games, Monday Night Football and the U.S. Open – on us.
Visit fubotv.com/deal to start your 7-day free trial from Fubo, either for their Pro or Elite with Sports Plus plans, and $30 off the first month after that. In addition, DIRECTV will provide a $30 credit; or Visit sling.com/DIRECTV to get the Sling Orange service, offset by a $30 credit from DIRECTV. Both alternatives allow you to access Disney networks, including ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN3, Disney Channel, Freeform, and others.
This move from DTV is remarkable, but it’s fitting considering the high stakes of this negotiation . DTV is fighting hard for flexibility to offer different and cheaper packages (including some along the lines of what was proposed in Venu Sports, the planned Disney-Fox-WBD joint venture now stalled from launching thanks to a court ruling in a Fubo lawsuit against the partnership), but Disney is pushing back with their own claims, and enlisting some of ESPN’s top on-air personalities along the way. Meanwhile, DTV tried to recruit college conferences and commissioners in support of their approach, which hasn’t quite worked out how they hoped in some cases .
There’s still no real indication on just when this dispute might be resolved. There’s some hope it gets figured out by the Monday Night Football debut (Jets-49ers) in a few days. (As a reminder, that game will be simulcast on ABC, so traditional DTV customers outside the markets of the eight ABC O-and-O local affiliates should be able to see it, but there are issues for those with DTV Stream or relying on the DTV app or in those markets (which include both New York and San Francisco), unless they use the always-free option of an antenna.) But it’s far from clear that will happen, and some of the signs here have been more ominous .
It’s unclear just what this offer from DTV indicates about the likelihood of the carriage dispute being resolved quickly. On one hand, it seems unlikely they would be helping customers sign up for rival services if they didn’t think they could end this quickly and get those customers back full-time. (And it’s notable that this does not include one big vMPVD in Google’s YouTube TV, which some have cited as a potential beneficiary from this dispute.) On another hand, though, it’s a sign of strange times for DTV to be working with these rivals, including a long-time prominent satellite adversary in Dish-owned Sling:
Strange times make for unlikely bedfellows, though. And that’s certainly the case with DTV, Dish, and Fubo. All of them have issues with each other, but they also all have issues with Disney. So perhaps this is their Avengers Assemble moment (sorry, Disney) against the company seeking to make MVPD customers pay to access all of the Infinity Gems rather than just the one or two they would prefer (again, sorry, Disney). And while there have been some things along these lines in carriage disputes in the past, including free antenna offers , encouraging subscriptions to competing MVPDs feels like a new level. We’ll see how it works out for DTV, but it’s definitely notable to see them make this kind of an offer encouraging customers to use competing providers.
[ DirecTV Insider ]
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