DirecTV loses ESPN channels amid rate dispute

Millions of sports fans tuning in to see U.S. Open tennis, a key National League East baseball game and one of the marquee matchups of college football's opening weekend got an unwelcome surprise Sunday night.

The Walt Disney Company pulled the plug on the ESPN family of channels and on ABC in eight TV markets, all of which it owns, from DirecTV as part of a dispute with the satellite operator.

The immediate impact of the impasse was that the Atlanta Braves-Philadelphia Phillies game on ESPN and the tennis on ESPN2 were blacked out for DirecTV customers.

In addition, the college football game featuring No. 23 Southern California and No. 13 LSU, which was airing on ABC, was unavailable for DirecTV customers in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, the San Francisco Bay Area, Durham-Raleigh-Fayetteville and Fresno. The ABC affiliates in those markets are owned by Disney.

DirecTV wrote in a statement, "Just hours before Disney pulled its programming from millions of DirecTV customers, they demanded that to reach any licensing agreement or extend access to its programming, DirecTV must agree to waive all claims that Disney's behavior is anti-competitive.

Disney and ESPN issued a statement that read, "DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the U.S. 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."

DirecTV's chief content officer, Rob Thun, said in a statement, "The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system. Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world where we believe you earn your way and must answer for your own actions. They want to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers -- making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.

"Consumer frustration is at an all-time high as Disney shifts its best producers, most innovative shows, top teams, conferences, and entire leagues to their direct-to-consumer services while making customers pay more than once for the same programming on multiple Disney platforms. Disney's only magic is forcing prices to go up while simultaneously making its content disappear."

Should the dispute continue, among the ESPN events DirecTV viewers would be able to watch, in addition to the continuation of the U.S. Open, would be the football game featuring Boston College and No. 10 Florida State on Monday and the season opener of "Monday Night Football" the following week, when the New York Jets visit the San Francisco 49ers.

--Field Level Media