And that’s that.
The carriage dispute between DirecTV and Disney has resulted in the removal of (among other networks) ESPN and ABC from the lineup.
It means no U.S. Open tennis and no LSU vs. USC on Sunday night. In eight days, it mean no Jets at 49ers for Week 1 of Monday Night Football.
ESPN issued the following statement on the matter: “DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the U.S. Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season. 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. We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve. We urge DirecTV to do what’s in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming.”
ABC is available through old-school, over-the-air affiliates. ESPN is not, unless DirecTV customers make other arrangements.
DirecTV has fallen from a peak of more than 20 million subscribers to fewer than nine million. This development won’t be good for reversing that trend.