ESPN, Disney could get booted from DirecTV

Weeks after DirecTV and AT&T Now subscribers lost Miami’s CBS-TV affiliate for 19 days in a dispute over distribution fees, The Walt Disney Co. is warning viewers that several of its channels could be next to go.

On the Sept. 9 edition of Monday Night Football on Disney-owned ESPN, the company broadcast a message to DirecTV subscribers warning that parent company AT&T has so far “refused to reach a fair, market-based agreement with us, despite the fact that the terms we are seeking are in line with recent marketplace deals we have reached with other distributors.”

Asked about the messages, AT&T’s South Florida spokeswoman Kelly Starling provided a statement: “We’re disappointed to see The Walt Disney Co. put their viewers into the middle of negotiations. We are on the side of consumer choice and value and want to keep Disney channels and owned-and-operated local ABC stations in eight cities in our customers’ lineups. We hope to avoid any interruption to the services some of our customers care about.”

In a separate dispute, Miami’s Fox affiliate, WSVN-Ch. 7, is running messages warning Dish Network viewers that they’ll be forced to drop the channel after Sept. 11 if negotiations between its owner, Sunbeam Television Corp., and Dish are not successful.

A message on WSVN’s website reminded viewers that they would still be able to access the network free with an over-the-air antenna or through other cable and video providers.

WSVN broadcasts NFL games on Sundays and other popular Fox Network programs such as “The Simpsons,” “Family Guy,” “Empire” and “So You Think You Can Dance.”

Disney’s messages warned DirecTV and AT&T Now subscribers that they could lose ESPN channels, Disney channels, Freeform and other networks if negotiations fail. The loss of ESPN would block the popular Monday Night Football telecasts, numerous college football games and the network’s SportsCenter studio shows from the AT&T systems.

Customers were urged to call a phone number, 888-741-4388, that plays a recorded message offering to connect viewers to AT&T so they can urge them to keep the channels.

The ACC Network, which broadcasts Miami Hurricanes and Florida State Seminoles games, is also at risk of being dropped from DirecTV, the message said, along with Disney-owned ABC network affiliates in eight cities: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno, Calif.

No deadline was mentioned that would trigger removal of the channels from the AT&T-owned systems. The entertainment-oriented website Deadline.com said the blackout date “is understood to be sometime in September” and that the blackout would also apply to AT&T’s U-verse DSL platform.

AT&T’s dispute with CBS lasted from July 20 to Aug. 8, ending just before NFL preseason openers were broadcast by several of the blacked-out channels, including WFOR-Ch. 4 in Miami.