Latest DIRECTV-Disney Exchange Proves How Bad Carriage Fight Has Become
Latest DIRECTV-Disney Exchange Proves How Bad Carriage Fight Has Become
The two sides swapped proposals for restoring ABC to allow audiences to see Tuesday night’s presidential debate, but talks quickly broke down.
Is there any end in sight for the carriage dispute between Disney and DIRECTV? It sure doesn’t look that way as of Wednesday morning. Disney-owned cable and broadcast channels have been dark on DIRECTV since Sept. 1, and in the week and a half since, the two sides have waged a very public campaign to shift blame to the other side of the negotiation. The latest example of corporate intransigence came on Tuesday afternoon leading into ABC’s presidential debate, and it showed how far apart DIRECTV and Disney still are as each tried desperately to grab the moral high ground in the dispute.
Key Details:
- Disney and DIRECTV swapped proposals for allowing viewers to watch Tuesday evening’s presidential debate, but talks came to naught.
- Disney attempted to play up the historic importance of the debate, while DIRECTV said restoring the channels temporarily would confuse viewers.
- There’s plenty of blame to go around in the dispute, and both sides have to share it.
The latest trouble between DIRECTV and Disney arose on Tuesday when Disney proposed to restore ABC for DIRECTV customers so that they could watch the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. DIRECTV countered with an offer to restore all Disney-owned channels, including ESPN through Monday, Sept. 16, which would allow customers to see next week’s “Monday Night Football” game as well as the debate and other content.
Disney rejected that counterproposal, and since the debate was simulcast on other broadcast channels like CBS, Fox, and NBC, there was little incentive for DIRECTV to accept a proposal that would essentially only serve as a ratings benefit for Disney. DIRECTV argued in a blog post detailing the exchange that it did not want to confuse customers by offering ABC, then pulling it off the air again a few hours later.
For its part, Disney said it reached out to DIRECTV “because we want all Americans to be able to view tonight’s debate at this important moment in our history.”
Who Has the Strongest Leg to Stand On?
To be frank, both Disney and DIRECTV have to own some of the blame for this carriage dispute. Both sides have dug in their heels so deeply that neither appears willing to bend and looking back at how things came to this point shows that neither company has a clean claim to the high road in the schism.
It seems fairly obvious that DIRECTV took Disney’s decision to partner with Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery on Venu Sports somewhat personally. DIRECTV’s chief content officer Rob Thun told me a few weeks ago how disappointing it was that Disney wasn’t forthright about the impact Venu could have on his company and other distributors, and Venu has clearly had an impact on carriage talks between the two as the dispute has dragged on.
One of the biggest sticking points in the talks is DIRECTV’s desire to create Venu-like packages of its own, with specific focuses on genres like sports, movies, and entertainment. Disney says it has offered these types of channel packages, but DIRECTV said that the minimum penetration requirements tied to the offer made them largely ineffective.
It’s hard to blame Disney for wanting to hold back such channel offerings until it’s sure it won’t be allowed to sell Venu directly to consumers. After all, from a financial standpoint, why would the company continue to go through channel-distributing middlemen like DIRECTV when it could keep all the revenue from offering such a skinny bundle itself? Of course, there are larger issues of customer experience, public good, and the future of the industry to consider as well.
It’s also hard to blame DIRECTV for pursuing better options for its customers. The onset of on-demand streaming has caused customers to leave pay-TV subscriptions in huge numbers, and DIRECTV has to stem the tide somehow. Disney can’t expect cable distributors to admit their business model doesn’t work the way it used to and simply give up just because major media conglomerates launch direct-to-consumer services. It also doesn’t help that these same media conglomerates are demanding higher carriage rates at every negotiation despite dwindling customer bases and the fact that the channel owners are shifting the bulk of their highly desirable content to streaming.
Although both sides say they’re trying to go to the mat for consumers, it’s highly apparent that each is looking after its bottom line. That’s not a judgment on either; the point of any business is to make money. But as usual in such disputes, audiences are caught in the crossfire, and impacted viewers care far less about who gets credit or blame and more about getting access to their favorite channels back.
DIRECTV
DIRECTV is one of The Streamable’s top choices for the best live TV streaming service overall in 2026, especially for users who want the most channels or want to watch the most live sports. With an unbeatable lineup of local, news, sports, and entertainment channels, three main signature packages, an unlimited DVR, and 20 simultaneous streams at home, DIRECTV remains a premier choice for any cord-cutter.