Disney and DirecTV have finally reached a tentative agreement to restore the Disney-owned channels to DirecTV customers ahead of the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards, which airs on Sunday, September 15. However, Disney also included their basic Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu streaming packages in the deal, giving them even more subscribers, which they can include in their numbers to upsell advertisers.
Today’s tentative deal will restore ESPN, ABC, FX, Disney Channel, ABC TV stations, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic channels.
Under the new agreement, DirecTV will be able to offer packages tailored to certain genres, like a “Sports package” or “Family package,” instead of making all customers pay upcharges for channels they don’t want or need. However, it also allows DirecTV to include Disney’s Disney+, ESPN+, and Hulu with select DirecTV packages in a wholesale agreement like we saw with Charter Spectrum. Oh and when Venu Sports releases (now in 2025) they will be giving that to their customers at “no additional charge.”
Do you see a pattern here?
DirecTV can also sell the services to their customers “on an a la carte basis.”
If you are a DirecTV customer, you may win a better package with this new agreement.
DirecTV and Disney released the following joint statement,
“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.”
Once again Disney’s streaming reach further spreads using carriage agreements.
This is a reoccurring trend now with Disney. They have carriage agreements with various providers, and to force the growth of their streaming services, they are offering “wholesale agreements” to providers as part of their new deal.
Disney uses its grip on access to debates, award shows, sports, and more to negotiate new agreements that include its streaming services.
They will now be able to claim part of DirecTV’s 11 million customers for their streaming numbers that they will present to investors and leverage for better advertising rates. All while being paid “wholesale rates” from these cable/satellite providers.
If cable and linear TV weren’t already dying, Disney is doing its best to speed up the process even more. It’s kind of like making them dig their own graves.
It all seems very calculated on Disney’s part and I’m sure it’s going to happen again.
What do you think? Comment and let us know.
Source: Variety
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