Disney, DirecTV reach deal to end TV blackout
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Quarterback Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets is sacked by defensive end Leonard Floyd of the San Francisco 49ers during the second quarter at Levi's Stadium on Sept. 9, 2024, in Santa Clara, California. Photo: Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Disney and DirecTV on Saturday announced a new carriage deal in principle, ending a nearly two-week-long blackout of popular Disney channels, such as ABC and ESPN, for DirecTV's roughly 11 million satellite customers nationwide.
Why it matters: The agreement comes a day ahead of the 76th annual Emmy Awards, which are being aired Sunday night on ABC.
- During the blackout, DirecTV customers couldn't watch the first two Monday Night Football games this season on ESPN. They also couldn't access the ABC News presidential debate on ABC through their satellite subscriptions.
Zoom in: The new deal gives DirecTV customers access to Disney's streaming services, such as Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+, as part of select DirecTV packages under a wholesale agreement. The services will also be made available to DirecTV customers on an la carte basis.
- It also gives DirecTV the rights to distribute Disney's upcoming ESPN direct-to-consumer service, for now dubbed "Flagship," upon its launch at no additional cost to DIRECTV customers.
- Moving forward, DirecTV said it would offer customers multiple genre-specific satellite package options for topics such as sports, entertainment, and kids & family that will include Disney's linear networks along with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
What they're saying: "Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, DIRECTV and Disney are giving customers the ability to tailor their video experience through more flexible options," the two companies said in a joint statement, while thanking DirecTV customers for their patience
Between the lines: The agreement resembles Disney's landmark deal with Charter, struck last year, which gave Charter customers access to some of Disney's streaming content while still making most of Disney's smaller cable channels available in Charter's cable package.
- That deal was also struck after nearly two weeks of Disney networks being blacked out for Charter customers at the start of the football season.
The big picture: Arrangements like this, which give pay-TV customers access to streaming content in exchange for distribution of a broad package of linear networks, have become a bigger trend as cord-cutting persists.
- Cable and satellite distributors are essentially agreeing to pay higher fees to distribute networks with fewer viewers in exchange for being able to offer their customers special access to streaming content.
- On Friday, Warner Bros. Discovery and Charter announced a new distribution deal that will provide Warner Bros Discovery's streaming services Max and Discovery+ at no additional charge for Charter's Spectrum customers. In exchange, Charter agreed to carry WBD's cable networks, such as Discovery, Food Network, TNT, TBS and CNN.
What we're watching: Now that several new agreements have been struck to combine streaming with linear TV packages, there's hope that networks and Pay-TV companies can be more proactive in striking new deals, averting further blackouts.
- WBD and Charter's early renewal of their multiyear deal Friday meant Charter customers never had to experience any programming blackouts of WBD content.
