Some May Not See Bama/USF Broadcast
A contract dispute between AT&T owned DirecTV and U-verse and Disney owned networks may keep some subscribers from being able to view the South Florida at Alabama game Saturday night.
The Tide's game with USF is set for 6:00pm Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium and will be televised by ESPN. However, all ESPN channels, including the SEC Network, are dark on DirecTV and U-verse.
The Southeastern Conference issued a statement on X (formerly known as twitter), "If you are a @DirecTV customer, you no longer have access to SEC games and coverage on @espn or @SECNetwork.
As negotiations continue in an effort to restore ESPN programming to DirectTV, be reminded that other major TV and streaming providers like @dish, @sling, @hulu, @YouTubeTV, and others carrying @espn and @SECNetwork."
The dispute centers on the so-called carriage fees that DirecTV pays Disney to broadcast its programming.
Media reports say neither side is currently attempting to mediate the disagreement, and they are not close on the issues. Last year a similar contract dispute between Disney and Charter Communications lasted two weeks.
Those watching last night's SEC Network pre-game coverage of the USC vs LSU game in Las Vegas were cutoff right at the end of the broadcast. A black and white graphic appeared on the scene notifying viewers that the contract between to two entities has expired.
As might be expected, DirecTV/U-verse and Disney are both blaming each other for causing the blackout.
Disney-owned networks normally available on DirecTV and U-verse 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.
Disney is hoping that the timing of the contract ending will give them leverage since it comes at the beginning of the college and NFL football season. It also comes at the peak of ESPN's U.S. Open coverage and just before the first Trump-Harris Presidential Debate and the Emmy Awards to be aired on Disney owned ABC affiliates.
Disney issued a statement on their corporate website, “DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the US Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season,” said Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, co-chairmen, Disney Entertainment, and Jimmy Pitaro, chairman, ESPN. “While we’re open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we’ve extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs."
For their part DirecTV states, "DirecTV says it’s being prevented from offering more flexible packages that can more closely cater to consumer interest, and that Disney is “herding consumers away” from network TV by shifting content to Disney-owned streaming services like Hulu and Disney Plus. Disney is also accused of including a last-minute demand to waive all claims that its behavior is anti-competitive, according to DirecTV."
"(Disney) wants to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers – making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price," said Rob Thun, chief content officer at DirecTV, in a Sunday press release.
DirecTV is directing customers to TVPromise.com.
Currently no negotiations are scheduled between to two sides.
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