DirecTV and Disney reach agreement ending ESPN, ABC blackout
DirecTV customers can now access Disney channels like ESPN and ABC again, ending a two-week blackout, the companies said Saturday.
“We want to thank all impacted viewers for their patience and are pleased to be able to restore Disney’s entire network portfolio in time for football and the Emmy Awards this weekend,” DirecTV and Disney said. said in a joint statement.
On September 1, Disney removed all of its TV channels from the DirecTV service due to a dispute over licensing agreements. In a statement at the time, DirecTV said that “millions of DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers” lost access to Disney programming channels, including Disney Plus, ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Freeform and FX. DirecTV had 11.3 million subscribers as of the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Statista.
The Disney-DirecTV dispute was a bit of a football season replay: last year, on August 31, Spectrum TV viewers suddenly lost access to Disney programming due to another licensing dispute.
DirectTV customers can now dial into ESPN to watch NFL Monday Night Football games, as well as college gridiron action. They can also watch the Emmys on Sunday on Disney’s ABC broadcast network, where top nominees Shōgun and The Bear battle it out with all the other shows.
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