Plenty of fans around the country know that Disney and Spectrum are in a standoff over the cable company carrying ESPN and Disney’s other networks. Evan Roberts isn’t sure the country’s largest media market has really felt the hurt yet. They will next week.
“On Monday, the New York Jets play a football game that is Monday Night Football on ESPN and ABC,” he told partner Tiki Barber on WFAN Tuesday afternoon. “If you, Tiki, are a Spectrum subscriber, you will not be able to watch the New York Jets Monday night. And that’s when I think the New Yorker is going to feel this more so than they felt it over this past weekend because of this dispute between Spectrum and ESPN.”
Spectrum is the second-largest cable provider in the United States. As a result of the standoff between the two companies, it is estimated that more than 14 million homes that are subscribed to ESPN cannot see it.
Barber said that he has already listened to the advice of Disney and signed up for a streaming TV provider. Roberts isn’t sure that is the route most people are taking.
“Now, I don’t have spectrum, but let’s say I said to my wife, ‘Sorry, honey. We’re pulling the plug on cable. We got to start over.’ And she says, ‘Why?’ And I said, Well, ‘I can’t watch the game on Monday night.’ And she’s thinking about, HGTV and all the channels she has that I can’t disrupt. And I don’t think a lot of people can disrupt their entire family’s cable package because of a Monday Night football game that they really want to watch.”
Disputes between networks and cable companies are not new. The Evan & Tiki cast took turns naming other ones that have cost New York sports fans the ability to watch their favorite teams in the past. Barber says this one seems particularly vicious.
“This one feels very specifically timed to the start of the NFL’s season and in particular in the New York area with the Jets, because the Jets are the leverage point,” he said. “The Jets are the most hyped team. The Jets are getting more hype than the defending Super Bowl champion.”
