The Walt Disney Co. and DirecTV announced that they have reached a preliminary carriage agreement, putting an end to a blackout that prevented customers from viewing ESPN and other Disney-owned channels as the football season got underway.
Following a fortnight of negotiations, DirecTV consented to transmit all of Disney’s news, sports, and entertainment content going forward. While the two parties complete and sign a deal, the channels are being restored right away.
The satellite TV provider claimed that this gave it the chance to provide customers with a variety of genre-specific options, such as sports, entertainment, kids’ and family packages that feature Disney networks in addition to its streaming services, Disney Plus, Hulu, and ESPN Plus.
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Certain DirecTV bundles will come with access to such streaming providers.
When it becomes available, DirecTV also has the right to offer its subscribers the ESPN flagship streaming service for no extra charge.
The conditions of payment were not revealed.
The firms released a statement saying, “Disney and DirecTV are enabling customers to customize their video experience with more flexible options through this first-of-its-kind collaboration.” “DirecTV and Disney have a long history of introducing viewers to the greatest entertainment, and this partnership strengthens that dedication by acknowledging the immense worth of Disney’s content as well as the changing tastes of DirecTV’s clientele.
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The statement said, “We are happy to restore Disney’s entire portfolio of networks in time for college football and the Emmy Awards this weekend. We would like to thank all affected viewers for their patience.”
DirecTV customers missed certain college football games and the beginning of Monday Night Football during the outage. The broadcast of the discussion between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on ABC News, which ABC made available to other networks, also caused controversy.
Charter Communications and Warner Bros. Discovery struck an agreement earlier this week that will include WBD’s streaming services, including Max, in the pay TV bundles of Charter’s Spectrum TV subscribers.
Similar agreements have been inked by Charter with Disney, AMC Networks, Paramount Global, and TelevisaUnivision.
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