Some Comcast customers were confused Friday night after seeing two social media posts from Disney that claimed they’d lost access to FX and the National Geographic Channel.
The posts were part of a sponsored ad that Disney had prepared before its deal with Comcast runs out over a handful of its cable channels.
The deal expires on October 31, according to a Disney source who agreed to speak with The Desk on background. Conversations are ongoing between Disney and Comcast in an attempt to reach a new deal before the contract expires.
The deal in question involves FX, FXX, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild and National Geographic Mundo and Baby TV, all of which were acquired by Disney from 21st Century Fox in 2019. Other Disney-owned channels, including ABC, Freeform, the Disney Channel and ESPN, are covered under a separate agreement with Comcast.
The source said Disney had prepared a pair of advertisements for the FX and National Geographic Channel Facebook pages that were supposed to deploy after October 31 if the two sides had not yet reached a deal, but a scheduling mistake resulted in their accidental deployment on Friday.
The posts caused confusion among Comcast cable TV customers, some of whom posted that they were still receiving the channels and actively watching the networks despite Disney’s claim that Comcast had removed them.
“I have Comcast Xfinity and I’m watching National Geographic channel right now,” Lisandro Garcia wrote in a Facebook comment, adding that he also had FX channels at that moment.
“I have Comcast and I still have those channels,” another Facebook user named Eric Hall wrote.
The Disney source said the ads were pulled down early Saturday morning.
