The war of words between Disney and DirecTV continues as the two parties’ carriage dispute stretches into its fourth day.
In a joint statement from Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro on Wednesday, the House of Mouse accused the satellite and pay TV giant of “misrepresenting the facts” around its ongoing negotiations.
The media company maintains that it has proposed a variety of packages that would allow DirecTV to offer more flexibility, choice and control to its 11 million subscribers, such as a sports-centric bundle option featuring ESPN networks and ABC, an entertainment-based option featuring Disney’s entertainment networks and linear offerings paired with Disney’s direct-to-consumer subscription services like its deal with Charter Communications from last year. It also said that it has asked for rates that are in line with other distribution providers and that reflect the value of its content portfolio.
“Our priority is to reach a marketplace deal that serves the needs of DirecTV and their customers while also recognizing the value of our top-quality content and the significant investment required to create and acquire it,” the executives said. “We believe there is a path to a fair and flexible agreement that strikes this critical balance and works for all sides, especially the consumer.”
However, DirecTV chief content officer Rob Thun pushed back against Disney’s letter on Wednesday, calling the package proposal a “half truth” and that they are actually engaging in behavior focused on “cornering the market for themselves.” He pointed out that the two parties have agreed to rates, but remain apart on the flexibility and number of genre-based packages they’re trying to offer.
“In the skinnier bundles, they were going to afford only themselves really any runway on the sports and broadcast package,” Thun told CNBC. “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.”
DirecTV has also argued that Disney has asked them to waive all claims that its behavior is anticompetitive and move adjudication for any future lawsuits from New York to California.
“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,” Thun added. “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.”
The dispute comes amid a busy month for ABC and ESPN, which includes the U.S. Open, the start of the college football and NFL seasons and the telecasts of the first presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, as well as the 2024 Emmys.
In addition to local ABC affiliates, Disney-owned networks normally available on DirecTV include ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU, ESPN News, SEC Network, ACC Network, FX, FX Movie Channel, FXX, Freeform, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD and BabyTV.
In the meantime, DirecTV’s more than 11 million subscribers impacted by the programming blackout can request a $20 credit. In addition to DirecTV, Disney’s networks are available on other satellite providers like Dish Network, cable providers like Charter Communication’s Spectrum or Comcast, or virtual MVPDs like YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV.
