
An ongoing dispute between ABC News’ parent company, Disney, and DirecTV will apparently leave millions of customers in the dark for Tuesday night’s presidential debate on ABC.
Disney had announced it would allow viewers to watch the face-off between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris via “a three-hour feed of ABC News coverage to all impacted DirecTV customers at no cost,” adding, “[W]e want all Americans to be able to view tonight’s debate at this important moment in our history.”
Disney-owned networks, including ABC, Freeform and ESPN, have been dark for more than 11 million DirecTV customers since Sept. 1.
However, The Hollywood Reporter said Tuesday afternoon that DirecTV rejected Disney’s offer, after countering the provider wanted all channels returned through Sept. 16.
Disney reportedly refused.
“Unfortunately, returning only Disney’s ABC stations from the entire portfolio of channels for a limited 3-hour window will cause customer confusion among those who would briefly see the debate only to lose the channel again shortly after,” DirecTV’s statement said, according to the trade.
At issue is a dispute over the two companies’ so-called “carriage agreement” — the fee the satellite TV service pays Disney for access to its programming. Disney is seeking a higher fee, but DirecTV claims in a complaint to the FCC filed recently that Disney is negotiating in “bad faith.”
The presidential debate airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
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