Back in 2019, Disney signed a new five-year deal with DirecTV to keep Disney’s linear channels available to subscribers, and that deal is set to expire on Sunday 1st September 2024.  The two companies are currently in negotiations to keep Disney’s suite of linear channels available on DirecTV, but should the two sides fail to come to an agreement, channels like ABC and ESPN could go dark over the weekend for DirecTV customers.

Carriage disputes are common occurrences, but this year, due to some more information coming out during the recent lawsuit by Fubo TV, which resulted in the temporary injection against the launch of Venu Sports, DirecTV is looking to take advantage of the situation to bring some sweeping changes to the legacy cable business.

DirecTV states that the cable bundle hasn’t evolved to deal with the changing landscape brought about due to the increasing shift to streaming.  They state that they want to offer cheaper bundles to customers, offering more choice and options, rather than having to force customers to have a single bundle that includes everything.

Last summer, Spectrum Cable and Disney came to an agreement following a short carriage dispute, which resulted in the removal of many channels like Freeform, Disney Jr and Nat Geo Wild, but in return, customers would get access to the ad-supported version of Disney+, with the sports bundle also offering access to ESPN+.

It’s been expected that Disney would offer other cable providers a similar deal, as only last year, following the deal with Spectrum being completed, DIRECTV Chief Content Officer Rob Thun said that the new deal between Disney and Spectrum was “groundbreaking” and suggested that it set a precedent for all future carriage negotiations.

Currently, the dispute hasn’t spilled out into the public, such as messages on screens to DirecTV customers, but as the deadline draws closer, it could be an interesting week ahead.   At the end of 2023, DirecTV had 11 million subscribers, so a blackout of Disney channels, especially ahead of the launch of the NFL season, will impact many households.

According to the president of Disney Platform Distribution, Justin Connolly, told THR:

“I think, or I know, that they are trying to spin and push this narrative that they want to explore more flexible, skinnier bundles, and that we refuse to engage on that, and bottom line: That is blatantly false, and we’ve been negotiating with them for weeks, and we proposed a variety of flexible options … but yet they haven’t engaged with us on the options,”

Disney also states that they’ve offered a similar deal to Spectrum, offering a bundle with its streaming services, including Disney+.

“In each of those instances, they tried to spin back some flimsy rationale around these, quote, genre-themed packages, and frankly, it just feels like a tactic to distract from the real issues in negotiation.  They they just continue to sort of spin, both publicly but also in the room, a little bit on these ideas that don’t have a lot of specificity to them, and, you know, from our perspective, don’t feel like they can be executed easily and and that continues to be a challenge.”

He added:

“I also think that they’re trying to spin this narrative around DirecTV being a public service for the consumer.  But the reality is, DirecTV is a private equity play, and this isn’t a public service for them.”

With Connolly adding:

“Our focus is to try to resolve this in a way that benefits the consumer, ultimately, but also DirecTV and the Walt Disney Company, and we need them to sort of step away from the rhetoric a little bit, roll up their sleeves and figure out what we actually can do together here.  We’ve got, let’s call it four and a half days here before the expiration. And a lot can happen in that time. Our interest and our focus is to try to figure this out and get something done.”

Roger’s Take: With the deadline getting closer, they’ve still got some days to reach a deal, and Disney has now gone public with its side of things to try to get things moving and to apply some more pressure.   We saw last year with Spectrum that they are willing to pull the plug on channels to apply more pressure on Disney, but a complete reworking of the cable bundle is going to be difficult to get through since it will also set the stage for other negotiations with other providers.   There is little doubt that cable television is struggling, losing more customers daily, as they shift to streaming. Both sides will want to try to get as much money out of the deal as possible, before cable becomes even less profitable.  DirecTV wil also likely put their side of the argument over soon, now Disney has gone public, no doubt putting all the blame on Disney and saying that they are doing what they need to do for customers, but ultimately, both sides want what’s best for them.

Which side will blink?  Will Disney agree to a streamlined bundle?  Will Disney+ be included in that deal?  Will we see more channels close as they focus on the core channels? 

What do you think of this situation?  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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