Cable subscribers with Charter/Spectrum have not been able to watch any of the channels owned by The Walt Disney Company. Disney pulled its programming on Thursday night as the company and Charter Communications have not been able to reach deal on rates moving forward. Because of this, Charter Communications’ 14.7 million video subscribers saw channels like ABC, Disney Channel, FX, Freeform, and the various ESPN channels go dark. This comes as the industry is seeing rapid change caused by many people decided to cut the cord and ditch cable television all together.
As the dispute continues, Charter Communications says that it is willing to negotiate or do without Disney’s programming. Charter says that the “current video ecosystem is broken. With The Walt Disney Company, we have proposed a model that creates better alignment for the industry and better choices for our customers.” It does also note that it is “hopeful for a path forward.” Disney has also released a statement on the disagreement with the cable company. It can be read in full here:
Here’s What You Need To Know About the Dispute Between Charter/Spectrum and Disney Entertainment
Labor Day weekend is traditionally one of the biggest sports weekends of the year. Viewers sit down to watch the anticipated return of college football and enjoy the tennis battles at the US Open.
Unfortunately, for millions of Spectrum cable viewers this has not been the case this holiday weekend, since ESPN and other Disney-owned channels like ABC are blacked out due to a dispute between Spectrum’s parent company—Charter Communications—and Disney Entertainment.
Disputes between cable companies and content providers aren’t new. However, millions of consumers may find themselves perplexed and frustrated by what’s going on.
To cut through the noise, here are some important points to consider as the dispute disrupts one of the biggest TV weekends of the year:
- Losing ESPN is a major issue for consumers since it’s one of the most popular channels. In fact, ESPN aired more than half (53) of the top 100 telecasts in Charter homes during the past year, per Nielsen, the leading audience measurement, data and analytics company. That includes all 5 of the top 5.
- In the average month, 71% of Charter subscribers tune into Disney’s networks or stations. In fact, Charter subscribers watched more than 3.3 billion hours of content on Disney networks and stations over the past year, according to Nielsen.
- Although Charter claims that they value their customers, they declined Disney’s offer to extend negotiations which would have kept Disney-owned networks up for consumers in the middle of perennial programming events like the US Open and college football.
- Even though Charter also claims to value Disney’s direct-to-consumer services, the cable company is demanding these different services for free—as they have stated publicly—which does not make economic sense. Moreover, it does not make sense for consumers who desire the flexibility to have our streaming platforms as standalone services.
Labor Day weekend is supposed to be one of the more relaxing holidays of the year in the U.S. Unfortunately, Charter has made it a stressful one for its customers—many of whom have been experiencing up to three-hour hold times to cancel their cable subscription after Disney’s networks went dark.
Disney deeply values its relationship with its viewers and is hopeful Charter is ready to have more conversations that will restore access to its content to Spectrum customers as quickly as possible.
Consumers should also know that they have many options today and can choose from competing pay TV providers that offer Disney’s entire portfolio of networks and programming, as well as TV streaming services that can be accessed by downloading an app or over a broadband connection.
For more details, go to https://keepmynetworks.com/
Charter Communications has its own site that shares its side of disagreement at disneyespnfairdeal.com in contrast with Disney’s keepmynetworks.com. While it isn’t known when a deal will be made, it appears that both sides of the disagreement have more to gain by making a deal than walking away. What do you think of this disagreement? What do you think the resolution is? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
I know that the American public has to be getting tired of all of this. Everything always comes back to regular working people having to pay more. All companies are always trying to take every dollar out of pocket that they can. We the people are constantly being robbed, you companies might as well put a gun to our heads. Ya’ll constantly take and then want to take more and more. I say when is enough, how much money do ya’ll have to have. Do you all have to have it all, your guys greed is astonishing, is your greed never satisfied. It’s getting harder and harder out here to survive but it’s okay to all of ya’ll that probably sit on some board that live in mansions and know nothing about living paycheck to paycheck. This time of year for sports fans that really like football can’t see anything because of someone wanting to boost there profits on our backs. Some people look forward to this time of year for football and shame on Disney for their greed. The American public is always the one that gets the short end of the stick. Just want ya’ll to know that one day we all will have to answer for our lives and the things that we have done on this earth. Ya’lls greed is out of this world, you and the other companies doing this are freaking ruining this country.
I’m a Spectrum customer & avid sports fan. I’m very disappointed that I was unable to watch ESPN & a number of good football games this past week & tonight. I feel like Disney is greedy & more at fault. I won’t be buying anymore Disney products. Also, Spectrum, you may lose me as a customer if this continues. NOT kidding in NC!
I am sure Walt Disney WOULD NOT PUT $$$$ before entertaining people!
The Disney Corporation DOES NOT need this outrageous fee increase from Spectrum Cable ONLY TO PAY DISNEY EXECUTIVES MILLIONS PER YEAR.
In this corporate drama of hostage taking (we, the subscribers) are the real losers. Disney is a Content developer and providor. True, that they need to be reasonable in asking for price increases from their Network/Cable customers, but the cost/price increase is not ZERO. Spectrum’s response to have Disney to NOT increase the prices is equally ludicrous – there is no FREE LUNCH in American Capitalism. As Subscribers, with regard to ESPN, ABC and the stations that have been cancelled do not deal directly with Disney – they have a Broker (Spectrum as the Providor) who has legally through Contracts/Subscriptions agreed to provide this Content Coverage to us/the subscribers. IT is Spectrum’s responsibility to provide the channel by contract – all their Contracts contain language that they can choose to Add/Drop Channels without subscriber Approval/consent. So, they control the ballgame. We can cry all we want, but Spectrum is playing a dirty game of trying to shift the blame on Disney (whether you believe that Disney should charge more is immaterial. That’s business that is beyond the control of the subscriber). In fact, one could make a case that Disney actually has offered alternatives for Subscribers to choose Streaming services/other platforms to gain access to ESPN and the missing channels – yes, at an additional cost. What has Spectrum Offered – NOTHING. Theirs is a take it or leave it, knowing that they have you in a contract bind). FORCE SPECTRUM BACK TO THE TABLE; GET THEM TO RESUME DISNEY’S CHANNELS, WHILE THEY RENEGOTIATE PRICES. ITS. NOT THE SUBSCRIBERS/CONSUMERS FAULT, THAT THEY DECIDE NOT TO PLAY BALL.
I think it is unfair of both sides. I’m sure both sides have made billions of dollars in the past. As result of both being greedy your customers suffer the fallout . It’s this stuff that will force the customers to main stream, but what about the ones that can’t do that.
I think Disney is greedy also. They are trying to make up for all they lost with the Woke BS If they are not careful the will put themselves out of business. They should be able to come to an equitable agreement. This is why many are leaving cable and going to streaming TV through different options.
I think it is an outrage that we can’t get our ESPN stations!! PLEASE compromise & come to an agreement & return all the channels we are paying for as soon as possible! Thank you sooo very much for your cooperation!
This is RIDICULOUS,because if I stream and Charter/Spectrum is my WiFi provider I still can’t watch those channels.My cellular provider has a Disney Bundle that comes with my phone…IT IS USELESS. I’m blocked from using it..NEGOTIATE AND GET IT TOGETHER