Trying to watch ESPN or other Disney-owned channels on your TV? If you are a customer of one particular service, you might have noticed a less-than-great change recently.

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Disney has been hinting at big changes potentially coming to its linear TV networks and ESPN in the future, but this latest update has had a more immediate effect on some subscribers.

According to CNBC, Disney is currently in a contract battle with Charter Communications (the owner of the Spectrum TV service), and that has left MILLIONS of Spectrum TV subscribers without access to Disney-owned networks.

Since Disney and Charter Communications have yet to come to an agreement over certain contract fees, Charter’s customers suddenly lost access to Disney-owned networks including ABC, and pay-TV channels like ESPN and FX.

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Spectrum TV has around 14.7 million customers across 41 states. Charter CEO Chris Winfrey shared that “This is not a typical carriage dispute.” Charter executives have mentioned how they’ve pushed for an updated deal with Disney that could give Charter cable customers “access to Disney’s ad-supported streaming services like Disney+ and ESPN+ at no additional cost.”

It seems that this may be part of the issues preventing a deal from being reached The Hollywood Reporter also discusses how Spectrum has been trying to rework some of its offerings to split live sports from general entertainment. That may be causing complications too.

ESPN Wide World of Sports

In a statement posted by Spectrum, they claim that Spectrum “offered Disney a fair deal, yet they are demanding an excessive increase.” They go on to claim that Disney wants to “limit our ability to provide greater customer choice in programming packages forcing you to take and pay for channels you may not want. Spectrum is on your side and fighting to keep costs down while protecting and maximizing customer choice.”

Disney has also released a statement on the issue, shared by The Hollywood Reporter, where they indicated, “Disney Entertainment has successful deals in place with pay TV providers of all types and sizes across the country, and the rates and terms we are seeking in this renewal are driven by the marketplace. We’re committed to reaching a mutually agreed upon resolution with Charter and we urge them to work with us to minimize the disruption to their customers.”

TV remote

This is not the first time Disney has found itself in a dispute over TV and carrier fees. The Hollywood Reporter notes how in October of 2022 Disney’s channels went dark on Dish Network and Sling TV. Back in 2021, they also went dark on YouTube TV.

But, this could be different because Spectrum has “as many TV subscribers as Dish and YouTube TV combined, and is expected to pass Comcast as the largest pay-TV provider in the U.S. later this year.”

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Just how long Disney’s channels will be “dark” on Spectrum remains to be seen. It’ll all depend on how quickly the companies can reach an agreement. If you are a Spectrum subscriber be on the lookout for updates.

Click here to see Disney CEO Bob Iger’s comments on the new ESPN sports betting service

Are you a Spectrum customer? Tell us in the comments.