First it was the US Open, then Monday Night Football and now the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. Disney’s decision to remove its programming channels – including ESPN, ABC and FX – from DirecTV means subscribers will continue to miss major sporting events and other big primetime programming.
On September 1, Disney removed all of its TV channels from the DirecTV service due to a dispute over licensing agreements. The contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV this year is reminiscent of a similar outage last year with Spectrum TV. Although last year’s dispute was mainly about licensing prices, this year’s conflict appears to be even deeper.
On Saturday, DirecTV filed a complaint with the FTC against Disney, claiming that the entertainment company “insists on bundling and penetration requirements that were recently ruled by a federal district judge to be unlawful, anticompetitive and ‘bad for consumers.'” DirecTV offers its subscribers a bill credit for the loss of Disney programming and recently increased that credit from $20 to $30.
There’s no indication yet as to when the Disney-DirecTV contract dispute might be resolved. Read on to learn how to request the bill credit and everything else you need to know about the Disney-DirecTV contract dispute.
Which viewers are affected by the Disney channel outage on DirecTV?
In its Sept. 1 statement, DirecTV said that “millions of DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers” have lost access to Disney programming channels. These programs include Disney Plus, ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Freeform and FX. According to Statista, DirecTV had 11.3 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2023.
DirecTV subscribers with local ABC affiliate stations that are not owned by Disney will continue to receive their local ABC channel via the satellite service, but ABC will not be available via streaming.
When will Disney channels return to DirectTV?
This year’s dispute between Disney and DirecTV is creating a sense of déjà vu during football season. Last year, on August 31, Spectrum TV viewers suddenly lost access to Disney programming due to another licensing dispute.
Disney and Spectrum eventually resolved their differences, but it took until September 11. Because this licensing agreement dispute is different, there is no indication yet whether DirecTV viewers will be able to receive ESPN again when the 49ers host the Jets for the first Monday Night Football game on September 9.
How else can DirecTV subscribers watch ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels now?
Now that the Disney channels are no longer available on DirecTV, subscribers could turn to other streaming services to replace that programming. CNET’s two top-rated streaming services – YouTube TV and Hulu Plus Live TV – offer all of the major Disney channels that were removed from DirectTV, including ABC, ESPN, Disney Plus, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FX and National Geographic.
YouTube TV’s basic package costs $73 per month and offers a 21-day trialif you expect Disney and DirecTV to resolve their differences in the next few weeks. Hulu Plus Live TV costs $77 per month and offers a three-day trial.
Fubo’s basic plan includes all the major Disney channels like ESPN, FX and ABC. It costs $80 a month, although there is a seven-day free trial and the The first month currently costs only $50. SlingTV also offers most Disney channels through its basic Sling Orange package, which costs $15 for the first month and $40 per month thereafterIf you want your local ABC affiliate, you’ll either need to add Sling Blue or extend your TV coverage with an antenna.
As mentioned above, if your local ABC affiliate is not owned by Disney, you can get your local channel via satellite, but not via streaming using the DirecTV app.
How can DirecTV subscribers get their money back for the loss of Disney programming?
If you’re a DirecTV subscriber affected by the loss of Disney programming channels, you may be eligible for a credit from the satellite TV company. On its missing TV channels support page, DirecTV says the credit is “a small way of acknowledging the disruption and making up for the temporary inconvenience while we work to add the channels back to your lineup.”
To see if you qualify for a DirecTV credit, visit the company’s TV Promise page, select your TV service from the drop-down menu, enter your zip code, and click Seek If the website says you are eligible for a credit, visit the Explore invoice credits the TV Promise page to select the correct button to claim your compensation.
CNET research found that the initial bill credit was $20, but DirecTV has since increased the amount to $30. It can be applied to a future DirecTV bill.
