ABC, ESPN and More Disney Networks Disappear From Dish Network and Sling TV

Who doesn’t love a good carriage contract squabble between media entities? Dish Network and Sling TV users are once again forced to see channels disappear from their service, this time under the Disney banner. While Dish is far from the only network, they’re currently the one without at least 20 Disney-owned stations.

Among the missing channels are ABC, ESPN, and FX. While it isn’t likely to last too long, Dish only recently ended a carriage dispute with Warnermedia, currently Warner Bros. Discovery, after three years.

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“Disney has exploited its market position to increase fees without regard for the public viewing experience,” Dish executive vice president and group president Brian Neylon said. “Clearly, Disney insists on prioritizing greed above American viewers, especially sports fans and families with children who watch their content.”

Dish is no stranger to stiff, sometimes drawn-out negotiations with companies and networks. The standoff with Disney is no different, with Dish claiming the company sought around $1 billion in additional fees for extending its contract with Dish. That deal expired at midnight PT on Sept. 30, sending the networks dark on the platforms.

“After months of negotiating in good faith, Dish has declined to reach a fair, market-based agreement with us for continued distribution of our networks,” Disney responded to DIsh’s claims. “As a result, their Dish and Sling TV subscribers have lost access to our unrivaled portfolio of live sports and news plus kids, family and general entertainment programming from the ABC-owned television stations, the ESPN networks, the Disney-branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks, the National Geographic channels and BabyTV.”

According to The Wrap, Dish currently reports around 9.99 million paid subscribers through June 2022. This includes 7.79 million Dish TV subscribers and 2.20 million Sling TV subscribers.

While carriage disputes are nothing new, it is odd to see one turn out so vicious in light of current trends and moves toward streaming. Networks are branching out and crafting their own streaming platforms, with varying strategies and successes. With a streaming device or dongle or access to a PC, viewers can watch what they want and subscribe directly to companies for now. How long will Dish or any cable TV provider be able to remain in the conversation?

Once sports are fully onboard the streaming train, it would seem that the cat is out of the bag and looking to use your free WiFi. Still, nearly 10 million customers are without a ton of networks and they might not have them for quite a while.