DIRECTV vs. Disney: They Might Be Farther Apart Than We Thought

By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.

TV Answer Man, what’s the latest with DIRECTV and Disney and ESPN? Are they negotiating and getting close? Do we know? — Tony, Las Vegas. 

Tony, DIRECTV, DIRECTV Stream, U-verse and DIRECTV Via Streaming all could lose the entire Disney suite of channels (including ESPN and ABC in seven markets) if the companies don’t reach a new carriage agreement by Sunday, September 1, according to a Bloomberg report.

I wrote yesterday that the odds of a blackout are better than 50-50 although I wouldn’t say it’s a guarantee. With the college and NFL football seasons heating up, both companies will suffer if there is a blackout. That might improve the chances of a short-term agreement while talks continue.

However, a new Hollywood Reporter interview with a top Disney official seems to suggest the companies might be far apart in their negotiations.

Justin Connolly, Disney’s president of platform distribution, told the publication that DIRECTV is trying to create a narrative that it wants Disney’s cooperation in offering more flexible packages that would make it easier and less expensive for subscribers. But Connolly says DIRECTV hasn’t even brought up that concept in the negotiations.

“I think, or I know, that they are trying to spin and push this narrative that they want to explore more flexible, skinnier bundles, and that we refuse to engage on that, and bottom line: That is blatantly false, and we’ve been negotiating with them for weeks, and we proposed a variety of flexible options … but yet they haven’t engaged with us on the options,” Connolly told The Hollywood Reporter.

Connolly also suggested that a recent statement from DIRECTV content chief Rob Thun regarding the satcaster’s hope for slimmer packages is a head-fake designed to court favor with subscribers and the media.

“In each of those instances, they tried to spin back some flimsy rationale around these, quote, genre-themed packages, and frankly, it just feels like a tactic to distract from the real issues in negotiation,” Connolly says. “They just continue to sort of spin, both publicly but also in the room, a little bit on these ideas that don’t have a lot of specificity to them, and, you know, from our perspective, don’t feel like they can be executed easily and that continues to be a challenge.”

The TV Answer Man has asked DIRECTV for a comment and will report back here if the company responds. Meanwhile, it appears that DIRECTV and Disney are nowhere close to a settlement just five days away from the September 1 deadline.

Update: A DIRECTV spokesman says the company has no comment at this time other than the remarks in Thun’s statement which you can read here. 

Tony, hope that helps. Happy viewing and stay safe!

The TV Answer Man is veteran journalist Phillip Swann who has covered the TV technology scene for more than three decades. He will report on the latest news and answer your questions regarding new devices and services that are changing the way you watch television. See the bio for Phillip Swann here.

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