Disney’s carriage dispute with AT&T, which threatened to remove ESPN and other Disney-owned channels from DIRECTV, U-verse and AT&T TV Now, appears to be over. At least for now.
Update: As of 6 a.m. ET on Monday, September 16, Disney’s channels are still on the AT&T TV services, but the companies have yet to make an announcement regarding a new agreement.
Update #2: Disney and AT&T announced on September 20 that they have reached a deal in principle.
While the companies have not commented publicly, Disney has removed an on-screen viewer warning from the ESPN signal that is distributed to the DIRECTV audience.
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In addition, Disney has disconnected an 888 number that was set up earlier this week to deliver a recorded message about the fee fight.
Disney has also removed a warning alert from a web site, InstantAccessTV.com, which was created earlier this week to offer information on the dispute.
The three actions would suggest that Disney and AT&T are no longer in disagreement. That could mean they have reached a multi-year deal, or at least, an extended extension in the previous pact.
The TV Answer Man will update this story later today when more information becomes available.
The dispute became known last Monday when ESPN began running viewer warnings during its Monday Night Football broadcast.
— Phillip Swann
