Disney television channels have been blacked out on Dish TV and Sling TV in the US after Disney and Dish failed to hammer out a deal to extend their contract, which lapsed at midnight PT on Friday.
The affected Disney networks Include the Disney Channel, ESPN, FX, National Geographic and Freeform, as well as local ABC affiliates in eight markets, Dish said in a release Saturday.
Each company blamed the other for the blackout.
In its release, Dish said Disney had “walked away from the negotiation table and refused to keep its programming accessible,” and it accused Disney of exploiting “its market position to increase fees without regard for the public viewing experience.”
Disney on the other hand said in a statement to Variety that it had spent months negotiating “in good faith” but that Dish had “declined to reach a fair, market-based agreement with us for continued distribution of our networks.” Disney didn’t immediately provide a statement to CNET.
Last December, Disney and YouTube TV wrangled over contract terms, leading to a two-day outage before Disney channels were restored.
And this certainly isn’t the first time Dish has butted heads with a company over a carriage contract. Most recently, on Tuesday, the Game Show Network was restored to Dish and Sling TV following a three-week blackout.
It remains to be seen how long it’ll take Disney and Dish to bury the hatchet.
For now, the following Disney channels have been switched off:
- ESPN.
- ESPN2.
- ESPNU.
- ESPN News.
- ESPN Deportes.
- Disney Channel.
- Disney Jr.
- Disney XD.
- Freeform.
- Baby TV.
- FX.
- FXX.
- FXM.
- National Geographic.
- Nat Geo Wild.
- Nat Geo Mundo.
- ACC Network.
- SEC Network.
- Longhorn Network.
The local ABC stations include WLS in Chicago; KFSN in Fresno, California; KTRK in Houston; KABC in Los Angeles; WABC in New York; WPVI in Philadelphia; WTVD in Raleigh, North Carolina; and KGO in San Francisco.
