Disney Lets DirecTV Subscribers Watch Tonight’s Presidential Debate on ABC News
It looked like DirecTV viewers would be out of luck tonight with the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, but Disney has announced that it is temporarily giving DirecTV subscribers three hours of access to ABC News tonight so they can watch the debate.
Disney wrote in an email to CNET: “While we have not yet reached an agreement, we are offering all affected DirecTV customers a three-hour feed of ABC News coverage at no charge. We want all Americans to be able to watch tonight’s debate at this important moment in our history.”
On September 1st, Disney has removed all of its TV channels of the DirecTV service due to a dispute over licensing agreements. This year’s contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV is reminiscent of a similar outage last year on Spectrum TV. While last year’s disagreement was primarily over licensing fees, this year’s conflict appears to run a bit deeper.
On Saturday, DirecTV has filed a complaint with the FTC against Disneyclaiming that the entertainment company “persists in bundling and penetration requirements that were recently ruled by a federal district judge to be unlawful, anti-competitive and ‘bad for consumers.'” DirecTV offers subscribers a credit for the loss of Disney programming, and recently increased that credit from $20 to $30.
There is no indication yet when the contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV can be resolved. Read on to learn how to claim the billing 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 Sept. 1 statement, DirecTV said that “millions of DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers” will no longer have 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 noted above, if your local ABC affiliate isn’t owned by Disney, you’ll still receive your local channel via satellite, but not via streaming using the DirecTV app, with the exception of the three-hour time slot on September 10 when you can watch the presidential debate.
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.
CNET investigation indicated that the initial bill credit was $20, but DirecTV has since increased the amount to $30. It would have to be applied to a future DirecTV bill.
