Traditional TV has undergone a series of increases in costs which has often led to streaming platforms either raising prices, or removing channels. This evening, Spectrum has opted to black out all ESPN and Disney channels for subscribers amid a dispute with the “House of Mouse” which has led to YouTube TV getting a moment in the spotlight.
This evening, Spectrum (owned by Charter) started blacking out all Disney-owned channels, such as ESPN, ABC, FX, National Geographic, Disney Channel, Freeform, and more. Customers are, when trying to tune into these channels, seeing a banner that doesn’t say channels are inaccessible, but rather informs customers that Disney is “demanding an excessive increase” in programming costs.
On a landing page, Spectrum explains:
The Walt Disney Company has removed their programming from Spectrum which creates hardship for our customers.
We offered Disney a fair deal, yet they are demanding an excessive increase. They also want to limit our ability to provide greater customer choice in programming packages forcing you to take and pay for channels you may not want.
Spectrum is on your side and fighting to keep costs down while protecting and maximizing customer choice. The rising cost of programming is the single greatest factor in higher cable TV prices, and we are fighting hard to hold the line on programming rates imposed on us by companies like Disney.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
As a result of the sudden and (mostly) unexpected blackout, it’s Google’s YouTube TV that has started trending across Twitter/X and other platforms as an alternative to Spectrum. As it stands today, YouTube TV still has full access to Disney channels, including the affected ESPN channels. Though, notably, YouTube TV also had a brief dispute with Disney, which saw ESPN and other…
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