DirecTV loses Disney, ESPN and ABC: Find other ways to watch the US Open in tennis and soccer

With the U.S. Open tennis tournament wrapping up this weekend and the Monday Night Football season kicking off next week, a contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV couldn’t come at a worse time for DirecTV sports fans.

On Sunday, September 1, Disney suddenly pulled all of its programming channels — including ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Disney Plus, Freeform and FX — from the DirecTV service due to a dispute over licensing agreements. The contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV is reminiscent of a similar outage last year with Spectrum TV. Although last year’s dispute was mostly about licensing prices, this year’s disagreement seems to run even deeper.

In a conference call with investors on Tuesday, DirecTV Chief Financial Officer Ray Carpenter said, “This is not a run-of-the-mill dispute. This is not about haggling over percentage points on rates,” Reuters reports. And on the social media site X (formerly Twitter), the official DirecTV account warns its subscribers that “switching is not the answer.”

There’s no indication when or if the contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV will be resolved. Until then, DirecTV is offering a bill credit to subscribers affected by the Disney outage. Read on to learn how to claim that bill credit and everything else you need to know about the contract dispute between Disney and DirecTV.

Which viewers are affected by the Disney channel outage on DirecTV?

In its statement on Sunday, DirecTV said that “millions of DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers” have lost access to Disney programming channels. Those programs include Disney Plus, ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Freeform and FX. DirecTV had 11.3 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Statista.

DirecTV subscribers with local ABC affiliate stations that are not owned by Disney will continue to receive their local ABC channel via the satellite service, but ABC will not be available via streaming.

When will Disney channels return to DirectTV?

This year’s dispute between Disney and DirecTV is creating a sense of déjà vu during football season. Last year, on August 31, Spectrum TV viewers suddenly lost access to Disney programming due to another licensing dispute.

Disney and Spectrum eventually resolved their differences, but it took until September 11. Because this licensing agreement dispute is different, there is no indication yet whether DirecTV viewers will be able to receive ESPN again when the 49ers host the Jets for the first Monday Night Football game on September 9.

How else can DirecTV subscribers watch ESPN, ABC and other Disney channels now?

Now that Disney channels are no longer available on DirecTV, subscribers can use other streaming services to replace that programming. CNET’s two top-rated streaming services – YouTube TV and Hulu Plus Live TV – offer all of the major Disney channels that were removed from DirectTV, including ABC, ESPN, Disney Plus, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Freeform, FX and National Geographic.

YouTube TV’s basic package costs $73 per month and offers a 21-day trialif you expect Disney and DirecTV to resolve their differences in the next few weeks. Hulu Plus Live TV costs $77 per month and offers a three-day trial.

Fubo’s basic plan includes all the major Disney channels like ESPN, FX and ABC. It costs $80 a month, although there is a seven-day free trial and the The first month currently costs only $50. SlingTV also offers most Disney channels through its basic Sling Orange package, which costs $15 for the first month and $40 per month thereafterIf you want your local ABC affiliate, you’ll either need to add Sling Blue or extend your TV coverage with an antenna.

As mentioned above, if your local ABC affiliate is not owned by Disney, you can get your local channel via satellite, but not via streaming using the DirecTV app.

How can DirecTV subscribers get their money back for the loss of Disney programming?

If you’re a DirecTV subscriber affected by the loss of Disney programming channels, you may be eligible for a credit from the satellite TV company. On its missing TV channels support page, DirecTV says the credit is “a small way of acknowledging the disruption and making up for the temporary inconvenience while we work to add the channels back to your lineup.”

To see if you qualify for a DirecTV credit, visit the company’s TV Promise page, select your TV service from the drop-down menu, enter your zip code, and click Seek If the website says you are eligible for a credit, visit the Explore invoice credits the TV Promise page to select the correct button to claim your compensation.

Independent CNET research supports reports from Reddit that the credit is worth $20 and can be applied to your next DirecTV bill.