ABC and ESPN Pulled From DirecTV Amid Carriage Dispute With Disney

One year after a major carriage dispute with Charter Communications’ Spectrum cable service, Disney has found itself at the center of another dispute — this time, with DirecTV.

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“The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system,” DirecTV’s chief content officer Rob Thun said in a statement after Disney channels, including ABC and ESPN, went dark on Sunday. “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.”

Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, and ESPNDisney chairman Jimmy Pitaro released their own statement accusing DirecTV of denying “millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the U.S. Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season.”

“We will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs,” they added.

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Thun, however, went on to contend that, “Disney’s only magic is forcing prices to go up while simultaneously making its content disappear.”

In September 2023, Disney faced a similar conflict with Spectrum, who said in a statement that the clash was “not a typical carriage dispute.” The dispute was resolved days later, but with changes in customers’ channel lineups . While the full ESPN network suite, Disney Channel, FX and Nat Geo Channel were all restored, Freeform, FXX, Disney Junior, Disney XD, FXM, Baby TV, Nat Geo Wild and Nat Geo Mundo were all pulled from Spectrum TV video packages.

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