DirecTV filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission on Saturday night, accusing Disney of negotiating in bad faith.
Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC-owned stations in nine markets, have been off DirecTV since the evening of Sept. 1. That meant DirecTV customers were blacked out from viewing most college football games and the final week of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, including the women’s and men’s finals.
According to Leichtman Research Group, DirecTV has 11.3 million subscribers, making it the nation’s third-largest pay-TV provider.
ABC and ESPN did have the “Monday Night Football” opener between the New York Jets and the San Francisco 49ers. ABC also produced and carried the presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
ABC-owned stations in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area; Fresno, California; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Houston; and Raleigh are off DirecTV.
In addition to all ESPN network channels and ABC-owned stations, Disney-branded channels Freeform, FX and National Geographic are dark.
In its 10-page complaint, DirecTV says Disney is violating the FCC’s good faith mandates by asking it to waive any legal claims regarding any anticompetitive actions, including its ongoing packaging and minimum penetration demands.
DirecTV has asked Disney for the option of providing consumers with cheaper and skinnier bundles of programming instead of bigger bundles that carry programming that some viewers might not be interested in watching.
The complaint states: “Along with these anticompetitive demands, Disney has also insisted that DirecTV agree to a ‘clean slate’ provision and a covenant not to sue, both of which are intended to prevent DirecTV from taking legal action regarding Disney’s anticompetitive demands, which would include filing good faith complaints at the Commission. However, the Media Bureau made clear not three months ago that such a demand constitutes bad faith.”
During a conference call with business and media analysts, DirecTV CEO Ray Carpenter said they would only agree to a new carriage deal with Disney if bundling changes.
“We’re not playing a short-term game,” Carpenter said. “We need something that is going to work for the long-term sustainability of our video customers. The resolve is there.”
A Disney spokesperson said: “We continue negotiating with DirecTV to restore access to our content as quickly as possible. We urge DirecTV to stop creating diversions and instead prioritize their customers by finalizing a deal allowing their subscribers to watch our strong upcoming lineup of sports, news and entertainment programming, starting with the return of Monday Night Football.”
