DirecTV & ESPN Screwed Me This Weekend
I would've loved to have watched USC vs LSU this weekend or the U.S. Tennis Open considering I had money on both.
Unfortunately, thanks to DirecTV and ESPN's ongoing fighting, myself and millions of other cable subscribers were left in the dark, literally, as the channel went black right before kickoff AND in the middle of an Open match.
Never have I felt the "You don't know what you've got, until it's gone" FOMO in a sports-related manner this bad. I ended up running to the bar to catch the end of the Open and stay for the football game. Last night I wanted to watch SportsCenter while I fell asleep, but nope - couldn't do that, and as far as checking out what my guy Pat McAfee has to say on his program, it looks like I'll be heading to his personal YouTube page to watch because we may be here for a while. Just wait until tonight's crazy Jeopardy viewers find out that ABC is blocked - I would not want to be a DTV customer service rep!
DIRECTV PULLED ALL DISNEY PROGRAMMING INCLUDING ESPN AND ABC
Sunday afternoon's untimely blackout occurred after conversations between DirecTV and Disney reached an impasse as the two sides failed to reach a new distribution deal. As a result, DirecTV did the only thing they possibly can as leverage, and pulled all Disney-related programming, including ESPN, ABC and FX from their 11 million subscribers, who are furious. DirecTV says that Disney is being unrealistic with their price increase for the provider to pay to use their programming, which ultimately would be passed along to DTV subscribers in the form of higher monthly cable bills.
"The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system… 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," the cable provider's CCO Rob Thun said in a statement.
Disney, on the other hand, is playing the waiting game. The company is essentially holding DirecTV (and viewers) hostage. They know that in this continuing cord-cutting industry, that they have the best of both worlds. They either bring in more revenue by making a new deal with DirecTV at a higher premium, or they'll acquire more subscribers to their digital platforms because fans will ultimately go where the content they want is - especially, sports fans.
"We will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs. We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment," Disney proudly said in a chest-pumping statement. The Mouse knows that they have time on their side because sports fans particularly will not stand for this, especially as we head into the first week of the NFL regular season. Last year, Charter Spectrum went through a similar situation when they removed all Disney programming for 12 days until a new agreement was made.
This time, however, it feels different. Just search "DirecTV" on Twitter X, and you'll see an unbelievable number of people criticizing the cable provider and saying that they have canceled their subscription. It appears that this may have been the last straw for some.
Unfortunately for DirecTV, it doesn't matter if they are in the right and are trying to fight back against the monopoly that Disney has over so much of the sports industry, sports fans just want to watch their teams and don't care how it happens.
WHO DO YOU THINK IS AT FAULT? DIRECTV OR DISNEY? TWEET ME: @TheGunzShow