Spectrum Cable TV subscribers have been faced with a “stressful” issue: several channels are currently unavailable as Spectrum’s parent company, Charter, battles with Disney over a contract dispute.
©Disney
Although Disney has made references to potential changes coming to its linear TV networks and ESPN someday, this ongoing dispute has been impacting a large portion of subscribers during an important time of year for sports fans.
Disney is currently in a contract battle with Charter Communications (the owner of the Spectrum TV service). The dispute has left millions of Spectrum TV subscribers without access to Disney-owned networks, including ESPN, ABC, ESPN, FX, and the Disney Channel.
©Disney
Recently, Charter CEO Chris Winfrey stated that there has been little progress made in negotiations with Disney, according to Deadline. Winfrey previously explained that Charter is asking for a deal with Disney that would give customers “access to Disney’s ad-supported streaming services like Disney+ and ESPN+ at no additional cost,” per CNBC.
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Recently, Disney fired back with a message of their own. The statement began, “As the US Open reaches the men’s and women’s finals, and fans gear up for a weekend of college football and the opening of the NFL season, it’s unfortunate that Charter decided to abandon their consumers by denying them access to Disney Entertainment’s great programming.”
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“While they have stated their ‘indifference’ to the needs of millions of paying customers, Disney will not lose sight of what is most important—investing in the highest-quality stories, news and sports for our audience.” Disney wrote, “The question for Charter is clear: Do you care about your subscribers and what they’re telling you they want—or not? Disney stands ready to resolve this dispute and do what’s in the best interest of Charter’s customers.”
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Some analysts predict that Disney will eventually “concede” to some of Charter’s demands, stating, “We believe a permanent end to Charter’s distribution of Disney’s channels would be a more negative outcome for Disney than for Charter in that it would accelerate Disney’s linear revenue decline and make future distribution renewals even more challenging and critical (shifting leverage to distributors), while leaving the vast majority of Charter’s broadband business intact,” according to Deadline.
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Charter was also recently hit with a class-action lawsuit in response to the situation. You can read more about the lawsuit here.
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We’ll keep an eye on the situation and keep you updated, so stay tuned to DFB for more.
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What do you think of the dispute between Disney and Charter Communications? Let us know in the comments!
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Found out this morning that the impasse between Charter and Disney has been resolved. We’ve been down for about a week or so here in Southern California.
Apparently they are going to split off some of the sports packages. Not an issue with us, because in our household sports interfere with the other stuff we’d rather watch. Not a fan is sports here…
I live in New York City and I finally got ABC & ESPN back! I’m just waiting for my bill to go up. Disney wouldn’t give back FREE FORM. Both companies are greedy. Neither one cares about the subscriber. It’s all about the money and I’m tired of stock holders making demands on the companies. The companies feel they have to answer to the stock holders. I’m in the stock market, but I don’t demand MORE, MORE, MORE. At least, I’ll be able to watch Aron Rodgers open for the JETS!