DirecTV taps Steamboat Willie in new ad campaign on Disney dispute
DirecTV has tapped a former Disney character to draw attention to its ongoing carriage dispute with the Walt Disney Company.
The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is a television broadcast network owned by the Walt Disney Company. ABC operates the ABC broadcast television network, ABC Radio network, ABC News and local ABC stations in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Fresno and Raleigh-Durham.
DirecTV has tapped a former Disney character to draw attention to its ongoing carriage dispute with the Walt Disney Company.
DirecTV has escalated its fight against Disney to the FCC, accusing the broadcaster of violating the agency’s good faith negotiation rules during its programming dispute.
In a letter sent to DirecTV, Disney and ESPN, North Carolina Roy Cooper said the ongoing dispute involving channels like ESPN, ABC and FX is unacceptable.
With channels like ESPN and ABC unavailable to DirecTV and U-Verse subscribers, the company is pointing customers to some of its competitors.
The company recently sent letters to leaders at the SEC, ACC and Big 12 Conference, whose games are distributed by ESPN and ABC.
Tens of thousands of DirecTV for Business customers, including bars and restaurants, may not have access to ESPN and ABC for weeks during football season. Government agencies that rely on DirecTV as a lifeline during emergencies may suffer, too.
For years, carriage disputes have centered around fees paid by cable and satellite companies to programmers. Now, distributors are redrawing the battle lines.
Exclusive: DirecTV’s Chief Programming Officer Rob Thun said the development of Venu Sports proves broadcasters are ready to embrace genre-based channel bundles, and they should afford that opportunity to other distributors, too.
Sports fans say broadcast TV networks typically do a better job producing and distributing sports coverage, though they’re increasingly excited about the prospect of streaming video platforms.
Customers are being pushed toward Hulu and Disney Plus for their on-demand TV needs.