Walt Disney Co. networks, including ESPN and ABC, have been removed from DirectTV after negotiations between the satellite company and the media giant collapsed Sunday.
The power outage affects approximately 11 million households.
Making matters worse for DirectTV subscribers, the outage occurred just before a highly anticipated Southern California-Louisiana State football game on ABC and during ESPN’s ongoing coverage of the US Open.
After the outage, DirectTV and ESPN pointed fingers at each other.
ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, along with Disney chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, issued a joint statement saying, “DirecTV has chosen to disconnect millions of subscribers from our content as we enter the final week of the U.S. Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season.
Rob Thun, Chief Content Officer of DirectTV, responded in a statement, saying, “Walt Disney Co. has once again failed to provide accountability to consumers, distribution partners and now the U.S. judicial system.”
In the press release, DirectTV accused Disney of an “anti-consumer approach” that “forces DirectTV and other TV distributors… to pay for channels they don’t watch.”
MORE TO COME…
Emma Navarro (left) embraces Coco Gauff after winning their women’s singles round of 16
USC Trojans’ Zachariah Branch #1 gestures to the crowd before Sunday’s kickoff
