Developing in the ongoing carriage renewal dispute between DirecTV and Disney, DirecTV has filed an official complaint to the Federal Communications Commission accusing Disney of failing to negotiate in good faith.
On September 7th, DirecTV filed the complaint to the FCC, which according to Deadline, was released after “one week after Disney went dark” on DirecTV. A statement made directly from DirecTV stated how Disney has “violated the FCC’s good faith mandates by predicting any licensing agreement on DirecTV’s waiving any legal claims on Disney’s past, current, or future anti-competitive actions, including its ongoing packing and minimum penetration demands.”
Within the filing, “negotiations have stalled because Disney insists on bundling and penetration requirements that a federal district court judge in New York recently found in the context of the “Venu” joint venture to be unlawful, anticompetitive, and “bad for consumers.” Disney wants to force DIRECTV to carry a “fat bundle” including less desirable Disney programming—while itself offering cheaper, “skinnier” bundles of programming that consumers want. The Commission has never considered a good faith complaint in these circumstances, and DIRECTV may well wish to bring one in the future concerning Disney’s conduct,” the complaint states.
“Along with these anti-competitive 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. Not three months ago, however, the Media Bureau made clear that such a demand itself constitutes bad faith.”
Covering this story from the beginning here at MXDWN, there is an understanding that if Disney and DirecTV cannot come to a renewal agreement, “DirecTV subscribers will no longer have access to Disney’s TV channels,” which will come to include the following channels: ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel, FX, SEC, 20th Century Television, History Channel, and Soapnet.