New York
CNN
—
Cable subscribers will now have to find alternative sources for sports and other Disney content as one of the country’s largest providers, Charter Spectrum, lost access to Disney programming. This development took place even as ESPN, which is owned by Disney, was covering significant live sports events such as the US Open and college football.
Charter Spectrum accused Disney of demanding a traditional long-term deal with higher rates and limited packaging flexibility. As a result, Disney declined Charter’s proposal and pulled its video channels from the provider’s video customers on August 31.
The dispute arises from the ongoing struggles within the video ecosystem. Charter Communications stated that the proposal put forward by Disney would lead to a significant cost increase for subscribers, who would also be burdened with unwanted channels. While such arrangements have been commonplace for decades, the rise of streaming services has introduced new challenges for both channel owners and cable providers.
Charter claims to have 14.7 million video subscribers on its website.
According to a statement from Disney Entertainment, the rates and terms they are seeking in their renewal agreement with Charter are market-driven and align with their successful deals with pay TV providers nationwide. They have expressed their commitment to reaching a mutually agreed resolution with Charter and urge them to cooperate to minimize customer disruption.
The dispute has left fans of sports events such as the football game between the University of Florida and the University of Utah, or the match between top-ranked men’s tennis player Carlos Alcaraz and Lloyd Harris in the second round of the US Open, disappointed and unable to access coverage on ESPN.
The US Open Tennis expressed their disappointment for fans and viewers across the country, urging Spectrum and Charter to resolve the dispute with Disney as quickly as possible to ensure minimal disruption.
Disagreements over carriage fees are nothing new, particularly with the rise of cord-cutting and streaming services impacting the traditional cable business. Disney has previously faced conflicts with streaming service YouTube TV in 2021.
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