Yet another contract negotiation has led to viewers losing access to TV networks. This week, DirectTV and Disney could not come to terms, leading to the removal of all Disney networks, including the ubiquitous ESPN. Ars Technica takes a look at the situation, including DirecTV’s acknowledgement that they are willing to wait it out, even if it means ESPN is offline for a while.
While there have been many contentious contract negotiations between TV providers and programmers, this one is “not a run-of-the-mill dispute,” DirecTV CFO Ray Carpenter said today in a call with reporters and analysts, according to The Hollywood Reporter.