After a two week channel blackout, Disney and DirecTV have a deal in principle.
The agreed upon points including the opportunity to offer DirecTV customers genre-specific bundles, sports, entertainment, kids and family, which also include Disney’s linear networks, as well as Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+. DirecTV will also have the right to distribute Disney’s upcoming ESPN flagship streaming service to its customers for free upon launch.
Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ will be included in select DIRECTV packages and also made available individually. DirecTV will also have continued carriage at “market-based terms” of Disney’s entertainment, sports and news programming, including the ABC Owned Television Stations, the ESPN networks, the Disney-branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks and the National Geographic channels.
As a result of the deal, with the multi-year contract yet to be finalized, all of Disney’s channels have been restored to DirecTV customers.
In a joint statement, the two companies said: “Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, DIRECTV and Disney are giving customers the ability to tailor their video experience through more flexible options. DIRECTV and Disney have a long-standing history of connecting consumers to the best entertainment, and this agreement furthers that commitment by recognizing both the tremendous value of Disney’s content and the evolving preferences of DIRECTV’s customers. We’d like to thank all affected viewers for their patience and are pleased to restore Disney’s entire portfolio of networks in time for college football and the Emmy Awards this weekend.”
After an extended dispute that saw Disney channels like ABC, ESPN, FX and Disney Channel pulled from DirecTV lineups, the media giant and satellite TV firm have a new carriage agreement, returning the channels to lineups.
The companies announced the new deal Saturday.
More to come.
