By Phillip Swann
The TV Answer Man –Follow me on X.
Former editor of Satellite DIRECT magazine. Reported on DIRECTV for 30 years.

TV Answer Man, who is the biggest loser in the Disney and DIRECTV fight? Seems like both to me, but what do you think? — Carrie, Jacksonville, Florida.

Carrie, that’s a great question. The DIRECTV-Disney blackout is now in its ninth full day and there’s no end in sight. DIRECTV satellite, DIRECTV Stream, U-verse and DIRECTV Via Streaming are all still without the entire Disney lineup, including ESPN. So, who are biggest losers in this scrap? And who are the biggest winners. (Yes, there are some winners.)

Loser: Disney
Disney’s channels are no longer available to approximately 11 million DIRECTV homes just as college football and NFL are heating up. That’s a gaping hole that will eventually have a significant impact on the ratings (and advertising) if this fee fight becomes long term.

Loser: DIRECTV 
There’s no way you can call yourself a winner when you are denying arguably the industry’s most important programming suite to your 11 million video subscribers, particularly when you’ve already lost around 14 million subscribers in the last nine years! DIRECTV says this fight is worth the collateral damage because it needs to change the way programming is offered to consumers. And, DIRECTV says, it can’t do that without Disney providing greater flexibility in which channels it carries and how.

Loser: DIRECTV Subscribers
Caught in the middle of two mega-rich companies fighting over which one gets the most money, the poor DIRECTV customers are the biggest losers here. And it’s not close. DIRECTV added insult to injury last week by announcing a price increase, too. Ouch.

Loser: ABC
The network will host the presidential debate tonight and 11 million DIRECTV subscribers will watch it on other channels. Not exactly how ABC had it planned.

Update: ABC announced this afternoon that it will provide the ABC debate broadcast to DIRECTV.

Update 2: But Directv rejects the offer.

Winner: YouTube TV
Just as the NFL season is starting, and YouTube enters its second year as the exclusive carrier of the NFL Sunday Ticket, millions of viewers are now considering switching to another pay TV service. My goodness, YouTube TV couldn’t have scripted this much better. I’m sure base subs are up significantly over the last week as well as Sunday Ticket subs.

Loser: The Pay TV Industry
With DIRECTV suggesting the industry could soon collapse if it doesn’t get a favorable Disney deal, I have no doubt that even non-DIRECTV customers are more likely to cut the cord. No one wants to be the last one to turn out the lights. The industry needs a quick settlement here or the subscriber exodus could get out of control.

Winner: The TV Antenna
Who knew that 40 years ago when consumers started throwing their antennas in the trash can so they could put cable boxes in their place that the old antenna would become popular again? They don’t always work, but it’s one way to catch your ABC affiliate without committing extra subscription money.

Winner: Sling TV
When Sling first started in 2015, some said it was essentially an inexpensive way to subscribe to ESPN without paying scores of dollars for a cable or satellite bundle. Now with Sling offering a package with ESPN for the first month for just $20, that statement has never been truer. And DIRECTV is offering a $30 credit to help with the sub!

Winner: ESPN+.
Looking for a cheap way to keep watching ESPN games, the standalone streamer is likely gaining some short term subs at $10.99 a month. Although ESPN+ doesn’t carry everything on ESPN, it does have quite a bit, including last night’s Monday Night Football game.

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.

Have a question about new TV technologies? Send it to The TV Answer Man at swann@tvanswerman.com Please include your first name and hometown in your message.