Because the outage of Disney programming on DirecTV reaches its tenth day, communications between the 2 firms are getting spicier.
Earlier immediately, Disney introduced it will be permitting DirecTV subscribers entry to ABC Information for 3 hours tonight to look at the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Quickly after Disney’s pronouncement, DirecTV stated, “no thanks.”
“Returning solely Disney’s ABC stations from the whole portfolio of channels for a restricted 3-hour window will trigger buyer confusion amongst those that would briefly see the controversy solely to lose the channel once more shortly after,” DirecTV stated in a statement rejecting Disney’s offer.
Tonight the presidential debate is hosted by ABC however can be simulcast on a number of different TV channels together with PBS Information, Fox Information and C-Span.
On Sept. 1, Disney removed all of its TV channels from the DirecTV service attributable to a dispute over licensing agreements. This yr’s contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV echoes a similar outage last year on Spectrum TV. Although final yr’s disagreement was largely about licensing costs, this yr’s battle appears to run a bit deeper.
On Saturday, DirecTV filed an FTC complaint against Disney, claiming that the leisure firm is “insisting on bundling and penetration necessities that had been just lately discovered to be illegal, anticompetitive, and “unhealthy for customers” by a federal district courtroom choose.” DirecTV is providing subscribers a billing credit score for the lack of Disney programming and just lately boosted that credit score from $20 to $30.
There isn’t any indication but of when the contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV is perhaps resolved. Learn on to discover ways to declare the billing credit score and every little thing else it’s good to know concerning the Disney-DirecTV contract dispute.
Which viewers are affected by the Disney channel outage on DirecTV?
In its assertion on Sept. 1, DirecTV stated that “thousands and thousands of DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse clients” misplaced entry to Disney programming channels. That programming consists of embrace Disney Plus, ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Freeform and FX. Based on Statista, DirecTV had 11.3 million subscribers within the fourth quarter of 2023.
DirecTV subscribers with native ABC affiliate stations that are not owned by Disney will proceed to obtain their native ABC channel through satellite tv for pc service, however ABC is not going to be accessible through streaming.
When will Disney channels return to DirectTV?
The meat between Disney and DirecTV this yr brings a little bit of soccer season déjà vu. Final yr, on Aug. 31, Spectrum TV viewers suddenly lost access to Disney programming attributable to one other licensing settlement dispute.
Disney and Spectrum ultimately resolved their variations, however it took till Sept. 11. Since this licensing settlement dispute is totally different, there isn’t any indication but if DirecTV viewers may have ESPN again by the point the 49ers host the Jets for the first Monday Night Football game on Sept. 9.
How else can DirecTV subscribers watch ESPN, ABC and different Disney channels now?
Now that Disney channels are off DirecTV, subscribers might make the most of different streaming companies in an effort to substitute that programming. Each of CNET’s top-rated streaming companies — YouTube TV and Hulu Plus Live TV — supply the entire main Disney channels that had been faraway from DirectTV, together with ABC, ESPN, Disney Plus, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FX and Nationwide Geographic.
YouTube TV’s base plan costs $73 a month and offers a 21-day trial, in case you are anticipating Disney and DirecTV to resolve their variations within the subsequent few weeks. Hulu Plus Live TV costs $77 a month and provides a three-day trial.
Fubo’s base plan consists of the entire main Disney channels like ESPN, FX and ABC. It runs $80 a month, though there’s a seven-day free trial and the first month currently only costs $50. Equally, SlingTV gives many of the Disney channels via its base Sling Orange bundle, which prices $15 for the first month and $40 a month thereafter. If you need your native ABC affiliate you will both want so as to add Sling Blue or increase your TV protection with an over-the-air antenna.
As talked about above, in case your native ABC affiliate just isn’t owned by Disney, you’ll nonetheless obtain your native channel through satellite tv for pc however not through streaming with the DirecTV app.
How can DirecTV subscribers get a refund for the lack of Disney programming?
For those who’re a DirecTV subscriber affected by the lack of the Disney programming channels, you could possibly be eligible for a credit score from the satellite tv for pc TV firm. On its support page for missing TV channels, DirecTV says that the credit score is “a small solution to acknowledge the disruption and make up for the short-term inconvenience whereas we work to convey the channels again to your lineup.”
To see when you qualify for a DirecTV credit score, go to the corporate’s TV Promise web page, choose your TV service from the drop-down menu, enter your ZIP code and hit Search to see. If the location says that you just’re eligible for a credit score, go to the Discover invoice credit part of the TV Promise web page to pick the proper button to say your compensation.
CNET analysis indicated that the preliminary billing credit score was $20, however DirecTV has since elevated the quantity to $30. It must be utilized to a future DirecTV invoice.
