DirecTV vs. Disney: ‘MNF’ Kickoff Nears As Carriage Dispute Heats Up

Deadlines often spur action during tense negotiations, but in the case of DirecTV and ESPN parent company Walt Disney Co., not so much.

As of Monday afternoon and with just hours to go before the start of Monday Night Football with a highly anticipated Jets-49ers Week 1 clash on ESPN, there is still no deal. Differing from the last-minute dealmaking a year ago between Disney and Charter Communications, DirecTV remains locked in its effort to “change the model” between programmers and pay-TV distributors. 

That effort hit a higher gear over the weekend as the company filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, accusing Disney of not negotiating in good faith.

“Disney has refused to allow DirecTV to offer ‘skinnier bundles’ of programming—unless DirecTV also meets related minimum penetration requirements designed to make the provision of such skinny bundles effectively impossible or prohibitively expensive,” DirecTV’s complaint reads in part. 

DirecTV, meanwhile, is also pushing its subscribers to streaming services FuboTV and Sling as a way to watch sports while the carriage impasse with Disney continues, offering $30 credits to consumers who elect to do so. Those offers are in combination with a $20 bill credit the company previously offered. DirecTV subscribers can now elect to take a total $30 credit on their linear TV bills, toward the streaming services, or in some combination of those options.

The company is seeking to further turn up the pressure on Disney by using Steamboat Willie, a prominent former Disney cartoon character, as the basis of a new advertising campaign highlighting the carriage dispute. Steamboat Willie entered the public domain earlier this year. 

Back at Disney

Negotiations between the two sides continued all weekend and into Monday. As kickoff for the Jets and 49ers approaches, though, there are still multiple issues unresolved, sources tell Front Office Sports. 

“We urge DirecTV to stop creating diversions and instead prioritize their customers by finalizing a deal that would allow their subscribers to watch our strong upcoming lineup of sports, news, and entertainment programming, starting with the return of Monday Night Football,” Disney said in a statement. 

Different Dynamics

The return of MNF, one of the top-rated programs in all of U.S. television, is no doubt something any carrier would like to have, and the Jets are again playing in the opener. But there is perhaps less pressure on DirecTV to strike a new carriage deal with Disney than what existed with Charter a year ago. 

Charter’s Spectrum is a dominant entity in the New York pay-TV market, holding about 1.5 million area subscribers at the time of last year’s negotiations, and the high-profile debut of quarterback Aaron Rodgers as the Jets’ starting quarterback was a factor throughout those talks. 

DirecTV, conversely, is a smaller player in the nation’s largest media market, due in no small part to the many skyscrapers and multi-family and apartment buildings that have constrained satellite dish penetration there. Of DirecTV’s roughly 11 million subscribers, an amount only in the low- to mid-six figures is believed to be in the New York area. 

As a result, the singular prospect of New York–area fans missing out on the Jets opener on DirecTV doesn’t carry as much weight.