Last month, the satellite TV provider and the media giant couldn’t reach a programming agreement leading to a blackout of all Disney owned content from DirecTV subscribers.
What’s Happening:
- The Wrap reports that Disney has asked the Federal Communication Commission to dismiss DirecTV’s complaint against the company.
- The satellite TV provider claims the media corporation tried to force them to bundle additional content which raises prices for consumers, making DirecTV plans less desirable.
- The complaint reads “Disney wants to force DirecTV to carry a ‘fat bundle’ including less desirable Disney programming — while itself offering cheaper, ‘skinnier’ bundles of programming that consumers want… The Commission has never considered a good faith complaint in these circumstances, and DirecTV may well wish to bring one in the future concerning Disney’s conduct.”
- DirecTV also claims Disney pushed for a “clean slate provision,” which would prevent the satellite TV provider from taking any legal action against them, including any good faith complaints with the FCC.
- Disney claims that DirecTV “misunderstood the scope of its clean slate proposal,” stating it wasn’t intended to prevent either party from filing complaints with the FCC.
- The two companies began negotiations for carriage agreements in January. In an August 31st conversation, there were still over 100 open points of negotiation leading to the September content blackout.
- Disney responded to the complaint, stating “While the parties continued to exchange counterproposals, including on the topic of a clean slate agreement, that specific proposal was not the focus of negotiations during this period… Much to the Company’s surprise, on the afternoon of Saturday, September 7, 2024, it received DIRECTV’s instant Complaint alleging that the Company had breached the requirement to negotiate in good faith for retransmission consent. The next day, Sunday September 8, 2024, the Company emailed its counterproposal to DIRECTV’s September 7 proposal and confirmed that the Company had never intended the clean slate provision to curtail DIRECTV’s ability to file a complaint with the FCC.”
- The two companies reached an agreement on September 14th, which includes a clean slate release that does not apply to any FCC proceedings.
- Disney claims that, while the company was operating in its best interest, at no point did the company negotiate in bad faith.
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