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DirecTV viewers hoping to catch college football or US Open action found themselves sorely disappointed on Sunday. The provider pulled ESPN and ABC broadcasts amid a carriage dispute with the network.
The blackouts came minutes before ABC was scheduled to air a season opening matchup between LSU and USC. ESPN was also in the midst of its professional tennis coverage in New York.
DIRECTV and Disney were unable to agree to a deal, so all Disney-owned channels — ABC, ESPN, etc. — were just shut off during the U.S. Open and minutes before the USC-LSU game.
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) September 1, 2024
The blacked-out broadcasts surprised most viewers, who’d been kept in the dark about the dispute. Many are threatening to drop DirecTV if the issue isn’t resolved this week.
ESPN provided its stance on the battle over the weekend. They ripped DirecTV to shreds while placing all the blame on the provider.
“DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the US Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season.
“While we’re open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we’ve extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs. We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve.
“We urge DirecTV to do what’s in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming.”
It seems a deal is still within reach, but the timing couldn’t be worse for those DirecTV customers.
It’s not the only dispute we’ve seen affect college football viewers in 2024. Fans of new conference affiliates Oregon and Washington saw their Big Ten debuts blacked out by Comcast over a similar quarrel.
We’ll see if ESPN and DirecTV can come to some sort of agreement in the coming days. If not, there could be a few college football viewers in the market for a new provider this fall.