As Disney and DirecTV Continue to Negotiate a New Carriage Deal — A Blackout Could be Looming

Last week, we brought you the news that a showdown between DirectTV and Disney could be brewing as the 5-year carriage agreement that the two entities signed in 2019 comes to an end.

Now, Bloomberg has provided a peek behind the curtain and reported that, as expected, DirecTV wants to radically change how its carriage deals are constructed.

Photo: Disney

Like Charter Spectrum before them, DirecTV wants more flexibility in the packages of channels it can offer. Currently, Disney requires that most packages include all of its channels, regardless of whether customers want them or not. Essentially, in order to get popular channels such as ESPN, both carriers and their consumers must pay for niche stations like Freeform or Disney Junior.

What DirecTV Wants

In a blog post last week, Rob Thun, DirecTV’s chief content officer, argued that consumers want more flexibility and lower prices.

“Pay-TV subscribers have been declining because of our collective failure to evolve to meet consumer preferences,” he wrote.

Photo: DIRECTV

“We absolutely have to find our way to offering something smaller and less expensive than what we have today.”

Disney Has Been Open to Offering Skinnier Packages

An earlier report from John Ourland of Puck News said that DirecTV will seek a similar deal to what Spectrum got earlier this year. That would also likely include subscriptions to Disney+ and ESPN+.

If Disney does not allow for skinnier packages, Thun says that they will either have to sue or blackout Disney channels.

Photo: ESPN

According to the Bloomberg report, Disney is open to offering sport-specific packages. While the company is willing to work with carriers to build skinnier bundles, it also believes that DirecTV has no one to blame but itself, as its technology and interface have fallen behind the times.

While it sounds like Disney and DirectTV may be able to find common ground, time may be running out. According to Benzinga, if an agreement is not reached, a blackout of Disney-owned channels on DirecTV could begin as early as September 1.

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