Disney and DirecTV are STILL Fighting Over $2 Billion… And Your Just Collateral Damage

Unless you’re one of the lucky few like me, rocking YouTube TV (because we know what’s up), you probably spent last Saturday staring at your blank TV, wondering if DirecTV was pranking you or if this was some next-level psychological experiment. ESPN? Gone. ABC? MIA. 

Unfortunately, DirecTV didn’t exactly come through with a quick fix. Instead, they handed out a heaping serving of disappointment right as college football season was kicking off and the US Open was in full swing. 

So, what exactly happened? On September 1st, right as sports fans were settling into their recliners (barbecue nachos in hand), DirecTV customers were hit with a rude awakening. All Disney-owned channels—ESPN, ABC, Freeform, and more—were suddenly wiped from their channel lineup. 

That meant no USC vs. LSU college football thriller, no Serena Williams updates at the US Open, and for some folks, no “Good Morning America” or their weekly dose of reality TV with “The Bachelorette.” What caused this? A good ole corporate standoff. Makes you wonder if these execs even care that it’s football season.

Turns out, Disney is demanding DirecTV cough up more cash for their channels—reportedly around $2 billion a year in carriage fees. And DirecTV? Well, they’re not having it. They called Disney’s demands “anti-consumer” and claimed the Mouse House is trying to steer everyone toward its streaming services like Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+. 

Disney basically said, “Sure, you can have the game—but only if you also subscribe to my entire streaming empire.” DirecTV’s Chief Content Officer Rod Thun isn’t having it either, accusing Disney of “chasing maximum profits” at the expense of consumers.

Meanwhile, Disney fired back, saying DirecTV is “misrepresenting the facts.” Classic corporate finger-pointing. Both sides are making their cases to the public, but if you’re just here for your football fix, this drama probably has you pulling out your hair—or Googling how to cancel your DirecTV subscription. DirecTV isn’t shy about addressing that either, telling frustrated customers on social media, “Switching isn’t the answer,” because this kind of blackout could happen with any provider. I guess that means, Comcast, DISH, Charter—none of them are immune to these contract standoffs.

And for sports fans, this couldn’t have come at a worse time. Monday Night Football is just around the corner, and if this dispute isn’t settled soon, the season opener between the Jets and Niners MIA for DirecTV customers. If you’re already fuming, DirecTV is offering a $20 credit for the inconvenience. Sure, it won’t bring back the game, but hey, it might cover the pizza you stress-ordered while refreshing your screen every five minutes.

DirecTV has been bleeding subscribers pretty badly lately. They lost 1.8 million customers last year alone, and this blackout certainly isn’t going to win them any loyalty points. Disney, on the other hand, is down nearly 3% in the past week probably because of all this chaos. The irony? While Disney battles for higher fees, they’re also struggling with the same cord-cutting trend that’s hurting DirecTV.

So, what’s the moral of the story here? When two media giants lock horns over who gets the biggest slice of pepperoni pizza, it’s the customers who get left with an empty plate.

But, but, but…

While DirecTV and Disney are out here squabbling over $2 billion like it's the world's pettiest tug-of-war, our Stocks.News alert on Wednesday hit a massive +162.08% gain in less than 24 hours after we called it. And guess what—our premium members didn’t just sit back and watch the chaos unfold, they cashed in on those juicy gains. Oh, and did I mention that was our fifth triple-digit winner in a row? Yeah, we’re on a serious hot streak!

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Do the math, and if you’re catching the vibe, upgrade to Stocks.News premium before the next alert drops—it’s set to be another winner, no doubt.

Until next time, stay sharp and keep stacking those gains!

Stock.News has positions in Alphabet and Disney.