After about two weeks of a stalemate DirecTV and The Walt Disney Company announced over the weekend, they have reached enough of an agreement to restore the service to 11 million customers who have been without the Disney networks since September 1st.
The agreement still needs to be completely finalized; however, it was to a point where Disney’s full linear suite of networks was restored to DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers while they finish the agreement.
In a join announcement, the 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.”
The major terms agreed to, according to the release are as follows:
- – Continued carriage at market-based terms of Disney’s entertainment, sports and news programming from its comprehensive linear portfolio, which includes the ABC Owned Television Stations, the ESPN networks, the Disney-branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks and the National Geographic channels.
- – The opportunity to offer multiple genre-specific options — sports, entertainment, kids & family — inclusive of Disney’s linear networks along with Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+.
- -Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming services (Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+) to be included in select DIRECTV packages under a wholesale agreement, and also to be made available on an a la carte basis.
- -The rights to distribute Disney’s upcoming ESPN flagship direct-to-consumer service upon its launch at no additional cost to DIRECTV customers.
