DirecTV viewers without Disney and ESPN may not get them back anytime soon
On the evening of Sunday, September 1st, DirecTV subscribers suddenly found themselves without Disney programming — including ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Disney Plus, Freeform and FX. Without those Disney channels, DirecTV viewers will lose access to the US Open tennis tournament and college football games.
The contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV is reminiscent of a similar outage last year on Spectrum TV for ESPN, ABC and related channels. While last year’s dispute was largely over licensing fees, this year’s disagreement may run a bit deeper.
During a conference call with investors Tuesday, DirecTV CFO Ray Carpenter said, “This is not a typical dispute. This is not the type of dispute where people are negotiating percentage points on the rates,” according to reuters. And on the social media site X (formerly Twitter), the official DirecTV account warns subscribers that “switching is not the answer.”
There is no indication when or if the contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV will be resolved. Until then, DirecTV is offering a bill credit to subscribers affected by the Disney outage. Read on to learn how to claim that bill credit and everything else you need to know about the Disney-DirecTV contract dispute.
Which viewers are affected by the Disney Channel outage on DirecTV?
In its statement Sunday, DirecTV said that “millions of DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers” lost access to Disney programming channels. That programming includes Disney Plus, ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Freeform and FX. According to StatisticsDirecTV had 11.3 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2023.
DirecTV subscribers with local ABC stations that are not owned by Disney can still receive their local ABC channel via satellite, but ABC will not be available via streaming.
When will Disney channels return to DirectTV?
This year’s feud between Disney and DirecTV brings with it a bit of football season déjà vu. Last year, on August 31, Spectrum TV viewers suddenly lost access to Disney programming due to another licensing dispute.
Disney and Spectrum eventually settled their differences, but that wasn’t until September 11th. Because this licensing dispute is different, there’s no indication yet whether DirecTV viewers will have ESPN streaming again by the time the 49ers host the Jets for the first Monday Night Football game on September 9th.
How else can DirecTV subscribers watch ESPN, ABC, and other Disney channels now?
Now that Disney channels are part of DirecTV, subscribers can use other streaming services to replace that programming. Both of CNET’s top-rated streaming services — YouTube TV and Hulu Plus Live TV — offer all of the major Disney channels that were removed from DirectTV, including ABC, ESPN, Disney Plus, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FX and National Geographic.
YouTube TV’s basic subscription costs $73 per month and offers a 21-day trial periodin case you expect Disney and DirecTV to resolve their differences in the coming weeks. Hulu Plus Live TV costs $77 per month and offers a three-day trial period.
Fubo’s basic plan includes all the major Disney channels like ESPN, FX, and ABC. It costs $80 per month, though there is a seven-day free trial and the the first month is currently only $50Similarly, SlingTV offers most of the Disney channels through its basic Sling Orange package, which $15 for the first month and $40 per month thereafterIf you want your local ABC affiliate, you’ll need to add Sling Blue or extend your TV coverage with an over-the-air antenna.
As mentioned above, if your local ABC affiliate isn’t owned by Disney, you will still receive your local ABC channel via satellite, just not via streaming using the DirecTV app.
How can DirecTV subscribers get their money back for losing Disney programming?
If you’re a DirecTV subscriber affected by the loss of the Disney programming channels, you may be eligible for a credit from the satellite TV company. support page for missing tv channelsDirecTV says the acknowledgement is “a small way we can acknowledge the disruption and compensate for the temporary inconvenience while we work to bring the channels back into your offerings.”
To see if you qualify for a DirecTV credit, visit the company’s website TV promise page, choose your TV service from the drop-down menu, enter your postcode and click Search Query to see. If the site says you qualify for credit, visit the Discover invoice credits on the TV Promise page to select the appropriate button to claim your compensation.
Independent CNET investigation confirms reports from Reddit that the balance on the account is $20and that this should be applied to your next DirecTV bill.
