The carriage dispute between Disney and DirecTV continues, which resulted in Disney’s suite of channels, including ABC, FX and ESPN, blacked out for DirecTV cable customers following their five-year deal expiring last Sunday.

Yesterday, Disney executives released a statement regarding the situation, stating that they’ve proposed a variety of packages that align with DirecTV’s cited needs, give their customers more choice and control, and provide DirecTV with the ability to participate in future opportunities to distribute Disney’s content. For example:

• Sports-centric option featuring the ESPN Networks and ABC
• Entertainment-based option featuring the Disney Entertainment networks
• Linear offerings paired with Disney’s direct-to-consumer subscription services

There are many layers to this carriage dispute, as streaming becomes the main way people watch television as cord-cutting excellrates, both companies are trying to postition themselves for the future.  DirecTV is trying to create a smaller bundle, so customers have more choice in what they get to subscribe to, while Disney is also reducing the number of channels it offers but putting the focus onto its streaming platforms.

Last year, Spectrum customers got access to the ad-supported tier of Disney+ as part of a new deal that removed many of Disney’s less popular channels, such as Freeform, Nat Geo Wild, and Disney Jr.  

However, DirecTV is trying to take advantage of the recent court case, which saw Fubo TV get granted a temporary injection to stop the launch of Venu Sports, a new streaming service that would offer Warner Brothers Discovery, FOX and ESPN linear channels in one platform. 

DirecTV chief content officer Rob Thun took to CNBC to push back on Disney’s claims, stating that Disney is “cornering the market for themselves.”  It’s worth pointing out that Disney’s channels are available on many other competitors’ channels.  

Rob also explained that Disney’s offer of different options was only a half-truth, stating:

“In the skinnier bundles, they were going to afford only themselves really any runway on the sports and broadcast package.  And they gave us a flavor of entertainment that is laced with these minimum penetration requirements, which ironically, is not what they gave to Charter, which they told us firsthand. And they’re not letting us participate in the kids and family package that we put on the table to them because they want to keep that for themselves.”

Because of the way that television viewing is changing, Rob explained why there needs to be a change within the cable industry:

“I think where we agree is that there’s a vast market in between what’s available to customers today with a direct consumer subscription package construct and the fat pay TV construct that we live with today.  We think there’s a big market for us to participate in, but we need the rights and the rights to not be encumbered by these minimum penetration requirements, so that we can make this available to more customers than what Disney’s prescribing today. They just have to give us more flexibility in the rights they’ve given us, and they don’t reflect what they were planning to give themselves and that’s what we’re calling them out on.”

Check out the interview below:

Roger’s Take: With the unofficial Monday Night Football deadline quickly approaching, both sides are going on the PR offensive to try to sway the people that the blame lies on either party. Ultimately, the fault lies somewhere in the middle.   Simply put, Disney no longer needs DirecTV to distribute its content in the same way that it would have a decade ago, and this is only going to get harder for cable providers to compete, especially once the full direct-to-consumer version of ESPN, which goes by the codename “Flagship”, launches next August within Disney+. DirecTV sells other companies’ content and is trying to keep its own business going.   Though Disney will want the income from DirecTV’s 11 million customers, the big question is how many of those will end up switching to another platform, resulting in Disney still getting its cable money regardless.

What do you think about this ongoing dispute between Disney and DirecTV? Let me know on social media!

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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