Last year’s battle between Disney and Charter Communications raged on until the first Monday Night Football game of the season, and this year’s showdown might just last even longer.
According to Sports Business Journal, DirecTV’s CFO Ray Carpenter made it clear that they are willing to fight Disney for as long as necessary. Carpenter emphasized that this dispute is not your typical carriage fight.
“This is not the kind of dispute where we’re haggling over percentage points on a rate,” Carpenter explained. “This is really about changing the model in a way that gives everyone confidence that this industry can survive.”
The Disney-owned networks were pulled from DirecTV on a Sunday, right in the middle of the U.S. Open and shortly before the LSU-USC game in Las Vegas. The heart of the issue lies in DirecTV’s push to unbundle Disney’s networks, ensuring that customers only pay for the content they actually watch.
“You have to give Disney credit in that they’ve not tried to hide their intentions,” Carpenter remarked. “Disney has publicly indicated they intend to exploit the pocketbooks of our customers and other pay TV customers to fund and support their DTC apps while they shift the investment into the content and the quality of that content away from linear channels.”
Carpenter couldn’t resist taking a jab at Disney’s programming choices, mocking the idea of sports fans being forced to pay for cartoons or children being charged for a rock skipping competition on ESPN2 or ESPN3.
As for kids being the target audience for rock skipping, well, it’s debatable whether today’s youth even partake in such old-school activities. Perhaps they’re too busy indulging in Disney’s DTC apps from the comfort of their own homes.
With both sides digging in their heels and no end in sight, this football-like standoff between DirecTV and Disney looks set to continue for the foreseeable future. As fans wait anxiously for a resolution, one thing is clear – this battle is far from over.
