Amid a fraught carriage dispute between the two companies, Disney has made an offer to run a debate special feed for DirecTV customers, but DirecTV rejected the deal after asking for a broader restoration of channels.
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are scheduled for the first presidential debate Tuesday, airing on ABC and other major cable channels and to be moderated by ABC News’ Linsey Davis and David Muir. While it will be widely broadcast, Disney offered to restore access to ABC News for DirecTV consumers Tuesday during the debate, but DirecTV would have needed to accept that offer to allow the feed to reach customers.
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“As we announced in May, the ABC News presidential debate will be widely available across broadcast, cable and streaming. Although we have yet to reach an agreement, we are providing a three-hour feed of ABC News coverage to all impacted DirecTV customers at no cost because we want all Americans to be able to view tonight’s debate at this important moment in our history. We remain at the table negotiating with DirecTV and the restoration of our programming to their subscribers is completely within their control,” a Disney spokesperson said in a statement.
In turn, DirecTV had asked for an extension that would return all channels to DirecTV customers through Sept. 16, allowing viewers to watch the Emmy Awards, the debate and more as the two parties continue to negotiate, but was rebuffed.
“On Tuesday, Disney requested a unique exception to return ABC-only for tonight because it’s hosting the 2024 Presidential Debate, an event widely available across other major broadcast stations and news networks. Unfortunately, returning only Disney’s ABC stations from the entire portfolio of channels for a limited 3-hour window will cause customer confusion among those who would briefly see the debate only to lose the channel again shortly after,” the company said in a statement.
DirecTV consumers have been without access to a number of Disney channels including ABC and ESPN since Sept. 1. The satellite giant is pushing for “skinny, genre-based” packages, where customers can choose the kind of content they want to pay for, in addition to what direct-to-consumer content they may want included in the packages. Disney has said it is willing to be flexible on the packages, but not at a rate that “undervalues” its offerings.
The two sides have exchanged barbs in the press and made several moves in the past week, with each party offering consumers discounts to their services and DirecTV filing an FCC complaint alleging that Disney is negotiating in bad faith.
