It appeared like DirecTV viewers could be out of luck for tonight’s presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, however Disney has introduced that it’ll quickly give DirecTV subscribers three hours of entry to ABC Information tonight to look at the talk.
In an e-mail to CNET, Disney stated, “Though now we have but to succeed in an settlement, we’re offering a three-hour feed of ABC Information protection to all impacted DirecTV clients for gratis as a result of we would like all Individuals to have the ability to view tonight’s debate at this essential second in our historical past.”
On Sept. 1, Disney eliminated all of its TV channels from the DirecTV service as a consequence of a dispute over licensing agreements. This 12 months’s contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV echoes an identical outage final 12 months on Spectrum TV. Although final 12 months’s disagreement was principally about licensing costs, this 12 months’s battle appears to run a bit deeper.
On Saturday, DirecTV filed an FTC criticism towards Disney, claiming that the leisure firm is “insisting on bundling and penetration necessities that had been not too long ago discovered to be illegal, anticompetitive, and “dangerous for shoppers” by a federal district court docket decide.” DirecTV is providing subscribers a billing credit score for the lack of Disney programming and not too long ago boosted that credit score from $20 to $30.
There is no indication but of when the contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV could be resolved. Learn on to discover ways to declare the billing credit score and all the pieces else you must know concerning the Disney-DirecTV contract dispute.
Which viewers are affected by the Disney channel outage on DirecTV?
In its assertion on Sept. 1, DirecTV stated that “tens of millions of DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse clients” misplaced entry to Disney programming channels. That programming contains embody Disney Plus, ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Freeform and FX. Based on Statista, DirecTV had 11.3 million subscribers within the fourth quarter of 2023.
DirecTV subscribers with native ABC affiliate stations that are not owned by Disney will proceed to obtain their native ABC channel through satellite tv for pc service, however ABC won’t be obtainable through streaming.
When will Disney channels return to DirectTV?
The meat between Disney and DirecTV this 12 months brings a little bit of soccer season déjà vu. Final 12 months, on Aug. 31, Spectrum TV viewers immediately misplaced entry to Disney programming as a consequence of one other licensing settlement dispute.
Disney and Spectrum ultimately resolved their variations, nevertheless it took till Sept. 11. Since this licensing settlement dispute is completely different, there isn’t any indication but if DirecTV viewers can have ESPN again by the point the 49ers host the Jets for the primary Monday Night time Soccer sport on Sept. 9.
How else can DirecTV subscribers watch ESPN, ABC and different Disney channels now?
Now that Disney channels are off DirecTV, subscribers may make the most of different streaming providers as a way to substitute that programming. Each of CNET’s top-rated streaming providers — YouTube TV and Hulu Plus Stay TV — supply all the main Disney channels that had been faraway from DirectTV, together with ABC, ESPN, Disney Plus, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FX and Nationwide Geographic.
YouTube TV’s base plan prices $73 a month and affords a 21-day trial, in case you are anticipating Disney and DirecTV to resolve their variations within the subsequent few weeks. Hulu Plus Stay TV prices $77 a month and affords a three-day trial.
Fubo’s base plan contains all the main Disney channels like ESPN, FX and ABC. It runs $80 a month, though there’s a seven-day free trial and the first month presently solely prices $50. Equally, SlingTV offers a lot of the Disney channels by its base Sling Orange bundle, which prices $15 for the primary month and $40 a month thereafter. In order for you your native ABC affiliate you will both want so as to add Sling Blue or increase your TV protection with an over-the-air antenna.
As talked about above, in case your native ABC affiliate will not be owned by Disney, you’ll nonetheless obtain your native channel through satellite tv for pc however not through streaming with the DirecTV app, excepting the three-hour window on Sept. 10 to look at the presidential debate.
How can DirecTV subscribers get a refund for the lack of Disney programming?
If you happen to’re a DirecTV subscriber affected by the lack of the Disney programming channels, you could possibly be eligible for a credit score from the satellite tv for pc TV firm. On its help web page for lacking TV channels, DirecTV says that the credit score is “a small technique to acknowledge the disruption and make up for the short-term inconvenience whereas we work to deliver the channels again to your lineup.”
To see in case you qualify for a DirecTV credit score, go to the corporate’s TV Promise web page, choose your TV service from the drop-down menu, enter your ZIP code and hit Search to see. If the location says that you simply’re eligible for a credit score, go to the Discover invoice credit part of the TV Promise web page to pick out the right button to assert your compensation.
CNET analysis indicated that the preliminary billing credit score was $20, however DirecTV has since elevated the quantity to $30. It must be utilized to a future DirecTV invoice.
