DirecTV subscribers lost access to Disney channels, including ESPN and ABC, during the final week of the 2024 U.S. Open because Disney and DirecTV had not reached a new carriage agreement. The blackout continued through the men’s final on September 8; the companies announced an agreement and restored Disney’s linear networks on September 14, after the tournament had ended.
How the blackout overlapped with the U.S. Open
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| May 15, 2024 | ESPN announced that ABC would air the men’s singles final on September 8, with ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ also carrying the match. ESPN said its platforms had covered the U.S. Open since 2009 and exclusively since 2014. ESPN Press Room |
| September 1, 2024 | Disney and ESPN publicly said DirecTV subscribers had lost access to Disney content as the tournament entered its final week. ESPN Press Room |
| September 8, 2024 | The men’s final was scheduled for ABC, as well as ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. DirecTV subscribers affected by the blackout could not watch Disney’s linear channels through their DirecTV service during the match. |
| September 14, 2024 | The companies announced an agreement in principle and said Disney’s linear networks were immediately restored for DirecTV satellite, DirecTV Stream, and U-verse customers. The tournament was already over. ESPN Press Room |
Why Disney and DirecTV said they disagreed
Disney’s account
Disney characterized the dispute as a disagreement over fair, market-based terms and the value of its programming. In its September 1 statement, Disney Entertainment co-chairmen Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro said DirecTV had chosen to deny subscribers access just as the U.S. Open entered its final week and football seasons were beginning. Disney also said it had offered flexibility and terms extended to other distributors. Those were Disney’s arguments, not an independent finding about responsibility. Read Disney and ESPN’s statement.
DirecTV’s account
In a September 7, 2024 complaint to the Federal Communications Commission, DirecTV alleged that Disney resisted skinnier programming bundles, imposed minimum-penetration requirements, and sought a clean-slate provision and a covenant not to sue. Those are allegations in DirecTV’s filing; they are not findings by the FCC or a court. Read DirecTV’s FCC complaint.
The parties’ public explanations point to different priorities: Disney emphasized the value and market terms of its portfolio, while DirecTV emphasized the package flexibility and contract terms it said it sought. The reviewed statements do not establish a neutral determination of fault.
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What the companies announced in the agreement
The September 14 announcement described an agreement in principle for continued carriage of Disney’s linear networks, alongside the immediate restoration of those channels. It also outlined opportunities for genre-specific sports, entertainment, and kids-and-family options, and said Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ would be included in select DirecTV packages and available à la carte. The announcement did not provide a price list or establish that every described package was immediately available. Read the joint announcement.
What viewers missed—and what the figures mean
The dispute affected Disney’s linear portfolio, including ESPN and ABC. Since ABC was scheduled to carry the men’s final on September 8, the September 14 restoration came too late to restore access to that match for affected DirecTV subscribers during the tournament. ESPN Senior Vice President of Programming and Acquisitions Tim Bunnell had described the ABC broadcast as a way to bring the culminating match to tennis fans in ESPN’s May 15 announcement. See ESPN’s schedule announcement.
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Disney said that, in the prior year, more than 90% of DirecTV households watched Disney linear programming each month and those households watched more than 5 billion hours of it in total. These are figures reported by Disney in 2024; the company explainer does not provide the underlying measurement methodology, and the figures are not independently verified audience data in the sources cited here. Read Disney’s dispute explainer.
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