ESPN is still on DIRECTV, U-verse and AT&T TV Now as of 5 a.m. ET on Saturday, but it’s unclear for how much longer.
Update: It appears on Sunday morning (September 15) that a deal is done. See TVAnswerman.com for more information.
AT&T and Disney are locked in a carriage battle that threatens to blackout all Disney-owned channels on the three AT&T-owned services. The list includes ESPN, the SEC Network, ABC in select markets, the new ACC Network, the Longhorn Network, Freeform, the Disney Channel and Disney Jr.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last night that the deadline for a new agreement between AT&T and Disney was 6:30 p.m. ET on Friday, but that the companies continued to negotiated throughout the night.
The prospect of a blackout has DIRECTV subscribers worried, particularly sports fans who could miss ESPN’s coverage of college and NFL football.
“It’s 2:50 AM and I still have ESPN with DirectTV… Hopefully they are able to come to an agreement cause I will be switching to @YouTubeTV in the morning if not @DIRECTV,” tweeted @DawgBites15 this morning.
“We want to keep Disney channels in your lineup…We appreciate your patience while we work this out with Disney,” DIRECTV’s Twitter customer service team tweeted shortly after midnight.
The TV Answer Man will update this story as we get more information.
— Phillip Swann
As of 7:15cst ESPN is still on directv. If I miss any of today’s games I will be switching to cable. I have been spending too much with DirecTV anyways and have only stuck with them because of the NFL Sunday ticket. They have the absolute worst customer service!
I’ve been with directv since 1995, the main reason being Sunday ticket. However, its becoming more and more difficult to justify given the monthly cost. I’ve been considering a switch for the past coup,e of years and will definitely move should this blackout occur.
Since AT&T bought DirecTV and MOVED the Customer Service Overseas.
Customer Service does NOT exist anymore.
If you need ANYTHING from DTV, you are screwed
I am in exact situation Tom, if any channels are gone I will be calling the cable company, no doubt horrible customer service
If this happens, it will be the second time since July that Directv has blacked out channels from us. If you cannot count on being able to see what you subscribed to, why are we paying so much money per month. I will definitely leave if this happens. TOO, TOO much.
If I lose espn that is it for me I will be looking for new carrier. ☹
No ESPN. No me!
No ESPN+ available to buy UFC 246 thats horrible ! You have to go buy an App and then steam it, I dont understand
WHY ?