As the carriage dispute between Disney and the DirecTV spills into the fall sports season, the blackout across ESPN and ABC might serve as an opportunity for fans to “find their sports in different places,” according to YouTube’s global head of TV, film and sports partnerships.
“I do think that people are probably trialing other services,” Lori Conkling said at CNBC x Boardroom’s Gameplan 2024 conference in Los Angeles on Tuesday. “The question of all these disputes is always, ‘how long does it go on?’ … We’ll see what plays out, but it is a time where football fans have the opportunity to find their sport in different places.”
The YouTube exec noted YouTube TV has seen “subscriber growth trends [they’ve] seen in the past,” during the dispute, noting that the fall is the streamer’s best acquisition period during the NFL and college football season.
Conkling’s comments come just a day after DirecTV subscribers were unable to watch the first night of Monday Night Football on Sept. 9, which followed a blackout for Disney properties including ABC and ESPN that have impacted about 11.3 million customers for over a week.
After the blackout went into effect over a week ago, Disney and DirecTV have been at a standstill in negotiations, with the entertainment conglomerate and the TV distributor trading blame back and forth regarding which side is responsible for the halt in progress.
Earlier on Tuesday, Disney offered to provide a three-hour feed of the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, which is set to air on ABC News on Tuesday evening “because we want all Americans to be able to view tonight’s debate at this important moment in our history.” DirecTV rejected the offer, and further claimed that Disney similarly rejected a solution that have prompted the blackout to be temporarily lifted until next week.
“On Tuesday, Disney requested a unique exception to return ABC-only for tonight because it’s hosting the 2024 Presidential Debate, an event widely available across other major broadcast stations and news networks,” DirecTV shared in a statement. “Unfortunately, returning only Disney’s ABC stations from the entire portfolio of channels for a limited three-hour window will cause customer confusion among those who would briefly see the debate only to lose the channel again shortly after.”
The NFL season has been more present than ever on streaming platforms, with Netflix serving as the exclusive home to two NFL games on Christmas Day 2024.
More to come …
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