Disney and DirecTV have reached an agreement that restores all Disney-owned channels to more than 10 million DirectTV subscribers after a contentious 13-day blackout.
The deal was made just in time for key broadcasts, such as the 76th Emmy Awards airing on ABC and ESPN’s college football games.
“We’d like to thank all affected viewers for their patience and are pleased to restore Disney’s entire portfolio of networks in time for college football and the Emmy Awards this weekend,” the companies said.
The agreement allows DirecTV to offer genre-specific packages, such as sports, entertainment, and kids & family, which include Disney’s linear networks. It also enables certain DirecTV packages to feature Disney’s streaming services, including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+.
“Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, DIRECTV and Disney are giving customers the ability to tailor their video experience through more flexible options,” the companies stated.
No financial details of the deal were disclosed as part of Saturday’s announcement, which indicated only that DirecTV’s payments to Disney will be based on “market-based” pricing.
DirecTV has 11.3 million subscribers, according to Leichtman Research Group, making it the the third-largest pay TV provider in the United States.
The blackout, which began on Sept. 1, left millions of DirecTV customers without access to key programming, leading the company to offer customers $30 credits to encourage them not to cancel their subscriptions during the nearly two-week standoff.
The deal was made several days after impasse-related tensions led DirecTV to file a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), alleging that Disney was negotiating in bad faith.
DirecTV said in its 10-page complaint that Disney was violating FCC good faith mandates by requiring a waiver of legal claims on anticompetitive actions, including packaging and minimum penetration demands. DirecTV was pushing for the option to offer consumers smaller, cheaper bundles of programming, rather than larger bundles that include content some viewers may not want.
“Along with these anticompetitive demands, Disney has also insisted that DirecTV agree to a ‘clean slate’ provision and a covenant not to sue, both of which are intended to prevent DirecTV from taking legal action regarding Disney’s anticompetitive demands, which would include filing good faith complaints at the Commission,“ DirecTV stated in its complaint. ”Not three months ago, however, the Media Bureau made clear that such a demand itself constitutes bad faith.”
Disney has argued that the mutual release of claims is a standard practice following licensing agreements and has been included in previous renewals with DirecTV.
“We continue to negotiate with DirecTV to restore access to our content as quickly as possible,“ a Disney spokesperson said in a statement to media outlets in response to the complaint. ”We urge DirecTV to stop creating diversions and instead prioritize their customers by finalizing a deal that would allow their subscribers to watch our strong upcoming lineup of sports, news and entertainment programming, starting with the return of Monday Night Football.”
