ESPN goes dark on DirecTV during US Open, angry sports fans

ESPN went off the air for the second year in a row on a major airline during the U.S. Open tennis tournament and in the middle of college football’s first full weekend.

Disney Entertainment Channels went dark on DirecTV on Sunday night after the parties failed to reach a new carriage agreement.

The measure angered some sports fans, who posted their displeasure on social media. And the US Tennis Association was not happy with yet another carriage conflict.

ESPN showed the fourth round of the US Open when it went off the air at 7:20 PM EDT on DirecTV.

That was half an hour before the start of the match between Frances Tiafoe, an American who reached the semifinals of the 2022 US Open, and Alexei Popyrin, an Australian who eliminated defending champion Novak Djokovic on Friday.

“It is disappointing that fans and viewers across the country will not have the opportunity to watch the greatest athletes in our sport compete in the 2024 US Open due to an unresolved negotiation between DirecTV and Disney, resulting in the loss of access to ESPN . We are hopeful that this dispute can be resolved as soon as possible,” the USTA said in a statement.

It also happened 10 minutes before the start of the college football game between No. 13 LSU and 23rd-ranked Southern California in Las Vegas.

ABC stations in Los Angeles; San Francisco Bay; Fresno, California; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Houston; and Raleigh, North Carolina, also went off DirecTV.

Last year, Disney and Spectrum — the nation’s second-largest cable TV provider — were locked in a nearly 12-day standoff until reaching an agreement hours before Monday night’s first NFL game of the season.

DirecTV said Disney offered an extension to keep the channels on the air in exchange for DirecTV having to waive any future legal claims that its conduct is anti-competitive.

“The Walt Disney Co. once again disclaims any liability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the U.S. legal system,” Rob Thun, Chief Content Officer of DirecTV, said in a statement. “Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world where we believe you earn your money and are accountable for your own actions. They want to continue pursuing maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers – making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.

According to Leichtman Research Group, DirecTV has 11.3 million subscribers, making it the third largest pay TV provider in the country.

Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro released a joint statement urging DirecTV to finalize a deal.

The statement added that “while we are open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms that we have extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues ​​our portfolio of television channels and programs.” We are investing significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that is what our viewers expect and deserve.”

The impasse comes as networks and distributors continue to disagree over content. Distributors and subscribers would like to see a model where they can purchase channels a la carte instead of subscribing to a bundled package.

Distributors are also frustrated that production companies are placing some of their premium programs on direct-to-consumer platforms before appearing on channels. DirecTV cited the miniseries “Shogun” that debuted on Hulu before FX.

“Consumer frustration is at an all-time high as Disney switches its best producers, most innovative shows, top teams, conferences and entire leagues to their direct-to-consumer services, while customers are charged more than once for the same programming on multiple Disney platforms,” Thun said. “Disney’s only magic is forcing prices to rise while making its content disappear.”

In addition to all ESPN Network channels and ABC-owned stations, Disney channels Freeform, FX and National Geographic went out on DirecTV.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports