The Walt Disney Company Removes All Channels From Spectrum - ESPN, Disney Channel, FX

[TMC]

https://t.co/AeihCm6NXB

The Walt Disney Company has removed their programming from Spectrum. Spectrum is on your side and fighting hard to resolve this situation and keep costs down while protecting and maximizing customer choice. We apologize for the inconvenience.

[Duster76]

I can't believe I find myself on the side of a cable company, but Spectrum is absolutely right about this. It's a national disgrace that Congress hasn't stepped in and passed a comprehensive fair pricing act that would require the unbundling of cable channels and separate pricing for each channel. A cable company in turn would be required to offer the channels on an a la carte basis, the company could also bundle the services at a discount
as part of a package. No over the air channel should ever have been permitted to be packaged with cable channels, the FCC should step in and address that immediately.

The concessions made to the professional sports leagues are sickening. For example, In New York the cost of YES network is $6 dollars per subscriber. Suppose an individual has no interest in the Yankees, why should they be forced to subsidize them. I'm glad Spectrum is starting this war, Congress should be legislating all this away rather than standing on the sideline.

[rusty spike]

A coworker brought this to my attention this morning. He was upset because he tried watching a college football game last night. He called up Spectrum to complain and got a 15 rebate for being inconvenienced.

[TVLegend]

Yeah I saw that last night. F*ck Walt Disney Company.

[dee2364]

Originally Posted by Duster76

I can't believe I find myself on the side of a cable company, but Spectrum is absolutely right about this. It's a national disgrace that Congress hasn't stepped in and passed a comprehensive fair pricing act that would require the unbundling of cable channels and separate pricing for each channel. I'm glad Spectrum is starting this war, Congress should be legislating all this away rather than standing on the sideline.

Congress is voted in by the American public, so it's not a question of Congress sidelining, but Americans voting against their best interests or not making enough of a stink when things like this happen. Americans slept walked as companies got bigger. Why should Congress do anything when their voters act as if they don't care what happens?

[AMackII]

I wasn’t happy about The Walt Disney Company pulling its own channels from the Spectrum but Disney Owned Channels like ABC, The Disney Channel and ESPN deserves better. Walt Disney must somewhere rolling at his grave.

[Mr. Television]

The only thing on Disney I watch is MNF on ESPN. Disney can go and jump in the lake.

[dee2364]

Originally Posted by AMackII

I wasn’t happy about The Walt Disney Company pulling its own channels from the Spectrum but Disney Owned Channels like ABC, The Disney Channel and ESPN deserves better. Walt Disney must somewhere rolling at his grave.

I don't think he would, though. Disney was always a money-grubbing company. Mad Magazine did a parody of Disneyland back in the 1950s making fun of Walt Disney and all this ventures as cash-grabbing, and that was back in 1956. Also, remember that he famously fired the animators who had made his company what it was and later suggested that the only reason why they went on strike was because of Communists.

https://vintagedisneylandtickets.blo...mber-1956.html

[TMC]

Originally Posted by rusty spike

A coworker brought this to my attention this morning. He was upset because he tried watching a college football game last night. He called up Spectrum to complain and got a 15 rebate for being inconvenienced.

Fans irate as ESPN goes dark on Spectrum at Utah-Florida kickoff

Disney/ESPN content went dark on Spectrum right at the worst possible time, coinciding with the start of the Utah-Florida game.

[Babalu]

At various times, many cable companies are at war with program providers over money. It's like two people you hate having a fight. You root for both to lose.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Duster76

I can't believe I find myself on the side of a cable company, but Spectrum is absolutely right about this. It's a national disgrace that Congress hasn't stepped in and passed a comprehensive fair pricing act that would require the unbundling of cable channels and separate pricing for each channel. A cable company in turn would be required to offer the channels on an a la carte basis, the company could also bundle the services at a discount
as part of a package. No over the air channel should ever have been permitted to be packaged with cable channels, the FCC should step in and address that immediately.

The concessions made to the professional sports leagues are sickening. For example, In New York the cost of YES network is $6 dollars per subscriber. Suppose an individual has no interest in the Yankees, why should they be forced to subsidize them. I'm glad Spectrum is starting this war, Congress should be legislating all this away rather than standing on the sideline.

Spectrum Charter Says Cable TV Isn’t Working

One of the biggest cable companies in the United States has a message for media companies, its major partners in a decades-old business: The traditional cable-TV model is broken, and it needs to be fixed or abandoned.

Cable TV has become too expensive for consumers and providers, Charter Communications said in an 11-page presentation to investors Friday, adding that cord-cutters and rising fees are contributing to a “vicious video cycle.”

The presentation comes amid negotiations between Charter and The Walt Disney Co., owner of popular cable channels including ESPN and FX, which will not be available to Charter’s nearly 15 million pay-TV subscribers until both sides agree on how much Charter will pay Disney to carry its channels. Subscribers to Charter’s Spectrum TV service will be without access to the U.S. Open tennis tournament and college football games during a holiday weekend.

These so-called carriage fights are commonplace in the media industry, with channels going dark for days or weeks on cable systems while the two sides — cable providers and content creators — haggle over how much the channels are worth and how to bundle them. But Charter’s suggestion that parts of its own business model are in disrepair adds a new wrinkle to the crisis facing the cable-TV business.

The fight comes at a time of declining subscriptions: More than 5 million Americans end their cable-TV subscriptions annually, according to research from SVB MoffettNathanson.

Almost every traditional media company is trying to hold on to its cash-rich cable partnerships while building streaming businesses that will eventually replace those alliances. But investors in traditional media companies have also grown impatient with attempts to build new streaming businesses, saying they are not as profitable as cable TV used to be.

The pressure is forcing traditional media companies to wring cash from their businesses in other ways, including teaming up with competitors to bundle their streaming services.

Adding to the challenges, tech companies like Apple and Amazon are willing to pay top dollar to acquire live sports rights, further driving up programming costs. Cable companies, for their part, have weaned themselves off depending wholly on traditional TV revenue, by offering services like wireless internet.

But in trying to negotiate with Disney for a better deal, Charter’s presentation goes a step further, delivering a scathing indictment of the cable television industry, which has generated billions of dollars for companies like itself and Disney for decades. It’s a notable acknowledgment from Charter, one of the companies that propelled much of that growth.

“Customers are leaving the traditional video ecosystem, and losses have accelerated,” according to Charter’s presentation.

“Has the traditional TV ecosystem reached its proverbial tipping point?” said Richard Greenfield, a media analyst for LightShed Partners. “If ESPN is permanently gone from Charter, there will be a massive snowball effect that is catastrophic for traditional TV companies.”

Disney fired back at Charter on Friday, saying that the cable giant had rejected a deal that reflected “market-based terms” and that Disney had proposed creative ways to make its streaming apps available to Charter’s cable subscribers. Disney said its offer to Charter had included its “most favorable terms” on rates, distribution, packaging and advertising.

“Charter’s actions are a disservice to consumers ahead of the kickoff for the college football season on ABC and ESPN’s networks,” Disney said in its statement.

At issue are the rates Charter will pay for Disney’s programming and how those movies and shows will be distributed to Charter’s customers in bundles. Charter has said it does not want to pay a premium for channels its customers do not watch, adding that rate increases are pushing customers to cut the cable cord.

Christopher Winfrey, the CEO of Charter, said on an investor call Friday that he was “disappointed” with the stalemate with Disney. He said the company had proposed an alternative model that Disney would not accept.

“We’re either moving forward with a new collaborative video model, or we’re moving on,” Winfrey said.

Charter’s news conference prompted a sell-off of traditional media stocks, affecting the broader entertainment industry. Shares of Disney were down nearly 3% Friday, Paramount declined more than 9%, and Warner Bros. Discovery fell 12%. Charter shares were down more than 3%.

As viewers abandon cable television for streaming services like Netflix, cable providers like Charter and Comcast have grown frustrated with paying a premium for content that fewer people are watching through traditional means.

Content providers like Disney are making adjustments of their own. The media giant has said it plans to offer a streaming version of ESPN, one of its most valuable TV channels, which has long been a linchpin of the traditional cable bundle. Robert Iger, Disney’s CEO, has said he is exploring options for ESPN, including finding a new partner for distribution or content.

On Friday, Charter said it had proposed a subscription package that included both traditional television and streaming apps, but Disney rejected its terms, said Rich DiGeronimo, president of product and technology. Charter said it was prepared to walk away from Disney’s channels, instead adopting “alternate video solutions” that included services offered by Apple and Roku.

Charter has explored splitting off some sports programming, including regional sports networks, into a higher-cost package called Spectrum Select Plus. Winfrey said Friday that it had not pushed Disney to agree to put ESPN into that package.

Disney Responds To Spectrum Cable Channels Going Dark

Overnight, Disney’s television channels, including ESPN, FX, ABC and National Geographic, were removed from the Spectrum Cable networks, across multiple markets, including Los Angeles and New York.

The blackouts are due to a carriage dispute between Disney and Charter Communications, which has resulted in over 15 million people losing access to the channels.

Charter Communications released some details from their point of view earlier today, stating that the current video ecosystem is broken, and they offered Disney a new model that they believe creates better alignment for the industry and better products for customers. In their view, this new model could stabilize linear video and create a clear growth path for direct-to-consumer (DTC) video, with a more customer-friendly and financially attractive end-state for programmers.

They have claimed that Disney wanted to charge higher license fees and demand that offering less packaging flexibility, which would cost the consumer more. Charter wants to offer ad-supported tiers of Disney+ and Hulu within the cable bundle, since they view that customers have to pay twice for content on both linear and streaming. With Charter Communications CFO Jessica Fischer saying:

With so many people cutting the cord from cable since the launch of streaming, cable companies are losing millions of customers and so Spectrum has come up with this new system to protect its business. However, earlier this year, Disney CEO Bob Iger spoke out about their traditional linear business, saying it is no longer core to their business and they are focused on their streaming services, theatrical and parks businesses.

The Walt Disney Company has since released its own statement, sharing its side of the situation:

Disney continued to state that that they had offered Charter an extension in the negotiations to keep the Disney networks up, but Charter “declined in the middle of programming that is important to their subscribers, including the US Open. Charter’s actions are a disservice to consumers ahead of the kickoff for the college football season on ABC and ESPN’s networks. We value our relationship with Charter and we are ready to get back to the negotiation table to restore access to our unrivaled content to their customers as quickly as possible,”

Hopefully, the deal between Charter and Disney can be agreed on soon, but also, you can see it from both sides, Spectrum is fighting to keep the cable business going and wants to change to fit customers’ demands, especially as more people cut the cord, while Disney is building their streaming services, which don’t need the cable platforms, but also need to continue offering their linear networks to customers. Unlike in many other countries around the world, Disney is still investing in its linear networks, though Bob Iger has said he is looking to potentially sell those networks.

[Edward216]

I don't care since I'm a Disney+ subscriber so it doesn't really affect me.

Ed.

[TVFactFan]

Just cancel the cable and get YoutubeTV. Simple Fix

[TVLegend]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Just cancel the cable and get YoutubeTV. Simple Fix

Or get Firestick like I just did last month. It’s way better than cable and has just about every single American channel on there.

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by TVLegend

Or get Firestick like I just did last month. It’s way better than cable and has just about every single American channel on there.

yeah its weird so many people bIshing and moaning about losing channels on cable when they can cancel