Friction is building between Disney and DirecTV. According to Deadline, the two companies are in a stalemate over carriage renewal disputes ahead of the current deal’s expiration this Sunday.
In an interview with Justin Connolly, the president of Disney Platform Distribution, he believes that DirecTV has been disingenuous in its business practices with Disney.
“They have not engaged in earnest on proposals we’ve made to them for customized packages of channels. They’re trying to lay the blame for their lack of investment in their platform at the feet of programmers,” Connolly said in an interview with Deadline.
In a separate interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Connolly went as far as to say that DirecTV is trying to push a false narrative that they are trying to work flexibly with Disney.
“I think, or I know, that they are trying to spin and push this narrative that they want to explore more flexible, skinnier bundles, and that we refuse to engage on that, and bottom line: That is blatantly false, and we’ve been negotiating with them for weeks, and we proposed a variety of flexible options … but yet they haven’t engaged with us on the options,” Connolly said.
On the other hand, Rob Thun, the CEO of DirecTV, believes that Disney is trying to monopolize channels that produce the top draws in the US. At the same time, distributors like DirectTV are left with mediocre content unless they pay an exorbitant fee.
“I think they thought they would just waltz through the trial and go on their merry way. They planned to box everybody out and continue forcing Fubo and other distributors to pay for less-desirable programming in exchange for gaining access to top draws like ESPN,” Thun said, according to Deadline.
This is not the first time Disney has found itself in quarrels with TV companies due to carriage renewals. Last year, Disney was under similar circumstances with Charter Communications (Spectrum). Charter Communications ultimately cut ties with Disney, which resulted in a 10-day blackout of Disney networks. If Disney and DirecTV cannot come to a renewal agreement, DirecTV subscribers will no longer have access to Disney’s TV channels (ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel, FX, SEC, 20th Century Television, History Channel and Soapnet).