The Blackout Is Over! Disney and DirecTV Agree to New Carriage Deal
After a nearly two-week blackout, Disney and DirecTV have come to a new carriage agreement.
Ahead of Saturday’s college football slate and the upcoming Academy Awards on Sunday night, all Disney-owned channels are once again available to DirecTV customers.
Under the new agreement, DirecTV will be able to offer slimmer genre-specific packages, including sports, entertainment, and kids and family options. These bundles will include Disney’s linear networks, along with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ (in select packages).
Photo: Hulu
As part of a larger wholesale agreement, DirecTV will also sell the Disney streaming services to customers on an a la carte basis.
Finally, next year, DirecTV will have the ability to to distribute the upcoming ESPN flagship direct-to-consumer streaming service when it launches next year at no additional cost to customers.
DirecTV and Disney Celebrate the New Deal
In a joint statement, both parties lauded the new agreement.
Photo: DirecTV
“Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, DIRECTV and Disney are giving customers the ability to tailor their video experience through more flexible options. DIRECTV and Disney have a long-standing history of connecting consumers to the best entertainment, and this agreement furthers that commitment by recognizing both the tremendous value of Disney’s content and the evolving preferences of DIRECTV’s customers,” they said.
Photo: DIRECTV
“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.”
Both Sides Got What They Wanted
While DirecTV has admitted that the blackout of Disney-owned stations drove consumers away, the television provider largely got what it wanted.
As negotiations ground to a standstill, DirecTV announced that it needed its customers to have slimmer package options and access to Disney’s streaming services.
The Walt Disney Company. Photo: Disney
For its part, Disney continued to signal that it was open to these demands. It will also likely be thrilled with the new wholesale agreement surrounding its streaming services, which will boost its subscriber count.
In the end, the two sides found common ground and reached a deal.
Photo: Disney
The other sticking point between Disney and DirecTV, however, was the former’s assistance that a new carriage deal would protect them from future lawsuits by DirecTV. It remains unclear how that issue was resolved.
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