After a fierce battle for both sides, Disney and DirecTV have announced a truce: The two companies announced a tentative agreement on a new deal that would restore ESPN, ABC, FX, Disney Channel and other Disney networks to the DirecTV lineup after a nearly two-week hiatus.
Under the new deal, announced Saturday, September 14, DirecTV will continue to carry Disney’s entertainment, sports and news channels, including its ABC television stations, ESPN networks, Disney-branded channels, Freeform, FX networks and National Geographic channels. The companies reached the deal ahead of the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, which are set to air on ABC on Sunday, September 15.
DirecTV said Disney's “full suite of linear networks” has been restored to satellite, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers “while the two parties work to finalize a new multi-year contract.”
The new agreement gives DirecTV the right to offer multiple genre-specific options — sports, entertainment, kids and family — including Disney’s linear networks alongside Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. Disney’s Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ streaming services will be included in “select DirecTV packages” under the wholesale agreement, and will also be offered on an a la carte basis.
DirecTV also has the rights to distribute Disney's flagship direct-to-consumer ESPN service with an expected launch in 2025 — “at no additional cost to DirecTV customers.”
“Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, DirecTV and Disney are giving customers the power to personalize their video experience with more flexible choices,” the companies said in a joint statement. “DirecTV and Disney have a long history of connecting consumers to the best entertainment, and this agreement reinforces that commitment by recognizing the tremendous value of Disney content and the evolving preferences of DirecTV customers. We would like to thank all affected viewers for their patience and are excited to restore the entire Disney network portfolio in time for college football and the Emmy Awards this week.”
Their previous agreement expired on Sept. 1, after months of negotiations without a resolution. While Disney and DirecTV negotiated terms for the new deal, more than 11 million DirecTV satellite and streaming customers missed a slew of sports broadcasts on ESPN and ABC, including college football, the U.S. Opening Day and the Sept. 9 kickoff of the National Football League’s “Monday Night Football” game featuring the New York Jets against the San Francisco 49ers. In the first week after the Disney Channels went off air, DirecTV announced a price increase set to take effect Oct. 6, angering customers.
Such conflicts over carriage have been a hallmark of the pay-TV landscape for decades — but the escalating rhetoric in the Disney-DirectTV dispute reflects the near-breaking point in an industry where rising costs and cord-cutting have severely eroded its customer base.
On Thursday, DirecTV CMO Vince Torres told a Goldman Sachs investor conference that the company had lost “a significant number of customers” during the Disney battle, without providing further details. Amid the Disney outage, DirecTV announced a price increase that would take effect on Oct. 6 — further fueling customer discontent.
DirecTV has complained that Disney is charging exorbitant prices for its networks, while claiming that Disney has not allowed DirecTV to assemble “slim bundles” of TV channels that would be more price-competitive with streaming services. Disney said it offered DirecTV multiple options for flexible programming packages, including a sports-focused package with ABC and ESPN.
In an attempt to up the ante, DirecTV filed a formal complaint with the Federal Communications Commission alleging that Disney failed to engage in good faith negotiations, citing the media company’s requirement that DirecTV waive legal claims. Disney countered that such agreements were standard (and had already been included in previous renewals with DirecTV), suggesting that DirecTV itself was acting in bad faith. During the Trump-Harris debate on September 10, Disney offered to give DirecTV a temporary ABC slot, but the carrier rejected it, calling it a selfish ploy and arguing that it would “cause customer confusion among those who would watch the debate briefly only to lose the channel again shortly thereafter.”
Last summer, Disney entered into a similar dispute with Charter Communications, resulting in a deal that gave Charter the rights to offer Disney+ and ESPN+ for select TV subscriptions, available at no additional charge. Additionally, Charter dropped Disney networks including Freeform and FXX from its Spectrum TV lineup. Charter has since struck other deals to bundle streaming services with cable, including Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max and Paramount+ from Paramount Global.
(Above: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes catches the ball against the Philadelphia Eagles during an MNF game on Nov. 20, 2023.)
