Posted by ABRockNJock on September 2, 2024, 1:47 am
If you were hoping to watch the U.S. Open, the "Sunday Night Baseball" game between the Atlanta Braves & Philadelphia Phillies and the College Football game between USC & LSU in Las Vegas Sunday night on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC respectively on DIRECTV, you were out of luck and here's why.
It appears as if The Walt Disney Company's carriage deal with DIRECTV expired around 6P (CT) Sunday night without a new deal. As a result, ESPN's family of networks which also includes ESPNEWS, SEC Network, ACC Network & ESPNU, as well as Disney Channel, Disney XD, Freeform (the former ABC Family) as well as ABC 7 Chicago are all off the satellite provider for the immediate future.
For Chicagoans, that means no "Eyewitness News", no "Live with Kelly & Mark", "Inside Edition", "Jeopardy!", "Wheel of Fortune" as well as ABC's own broadcast schedule. An inconvenience...But it's also a business.
The news of ESPN & ABC being yanked off as a result of a carriage dispute comes at a bad time as well with the networks' planning to simulcast a fraction of "Monday Night Football" games again this season. There is also the upcoming Presidential Debate between Vice President Kamala Harris & Ex-President Donald Trump scheduled for September 10 in Philadelphia. It's unclear how long the dispute will keep ESPN, ABC and other Disney-owned outlets off DIRECTV or whether a new deal can be worked out in the next few days.
With those close to an OTA Digital signal and the constant increase of unlimited Fiber connections, this is STUPID because it brings in more cord cutting. You will not lose 100% of subs, but the cutthroat way to bring in revenue, every cord cut is painful and the solution to raise other subs prices to offset this is a circle that will not end well.
It may not seem like much, but DIRECTV is offering a $20 credit for customers inconvenienced by the dispute between the satellite provider and the many channels owned by The Walt Disney Company including ABC & ESPN.
on September 2, 2024, 1:47 am