American Television Alliance Denounces Disney Pulling the Plug on Millions of DIRECTV Customers
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Television Alliance (ATVA) issued a statement in response to Disney’s blackout of its national cable channels on DIRECTV as well blacking out local ABC stations for millions of DIRECTV subscribers. The blackout impacts all of DIRECTV’s customers and jeopardizes their access to regular programs, news and sporting events that they care about.
“This is the third major blackout by Disney in recent years as they seek to raise rates and force distributors to carry an unwieldy ‘one-size fits all’ bundle of more than a dozen channels to the vast majority of their subscribers. These ‘fat bundles’ force consumers to pay for programming they don’t watch and the resulting high prices cause many consumers to ‘cut the cord’ from linear pay-TV, hurting programmers and distributors,” said Michelle Bowling, spokesperson for the American Television Alliance. “Ironically, Disney itself is trying to partner with two of its competitors to launch a skinny sports bundle, which was blocked by a federal judge because they don’t allow distributors to do the same.”
In addition to losing national Disney channels like ESPN, the Disney Channel and FX, subscribers to all of DIRECTV’s platforms in the markets listed below have lost access to ABC owned-and-operated stations. DIRECTV’s streaming customers in all markets have lost access to ABC programming, including from affiliates, as a result of Disney’s actions.
| MARKET | STATION |
|---|---|
| Fresno, CA | KFSN |
| Los Angeles, CA | KABC |
| San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA | KGO |
| Chicago, IL | WLS |
| New York, NY | WABC |
| Durham-Raleigh-Fayetteville, NC | WTVD |
| Philadelphia, PA | WPVI |
| Houston, TX | KTRK |
“Disney claims that local broadcast is an essential service, but they have repeatedly blacked out local stations in the name of higher licensing fees and penetration rates,” said Bowling. “This also comes at a time when many rely on broadcast news related to hurricane season, amidst record-high heat waves across the country and as we approach a highly contested presidential election.”
To learn more about ATVA’s work on these issues and their impact on the American consumer, visit https://americantelevisionalliance.org/about-the-issue/.