Last night, Spectrum started to warn customers that they could lose Disney owned channels, including ESPN, FX, Freeform, Natgeo, Disney Channel, Baby TV, and more. Spectrum could also lose Disney owned locals, including ABC7 Chicago, ABC7 Los Angeles, ABC7 New York, ABC7 San Francisco, ABC11 Raleigh-Durham, ABC13 Houston, ABC30 Fresno.
Update: Spectrum has dropped Disney-owned networks, including ESPN. Here is how to watch ESPN without Spectrum.
The deadline, according to a report on Reddit, is 5 pm Eastern today, August 31st, 2023. This comes as College Football Week One gets underway tonight on ESPN.
Spectrum says: “The rising cost of programming is the single greatest factor in higher cable TV prices, and we are fighting hard to hold the line on programming rates imposed on us by companies like Disney.” Now the question is how hard will they fight with college football starting tonight.
Disney released their own message about the possible blackout saying “We’re working hard to make sure some of America’s most watched networks such as the ESPN networks, including the ACC Network and SEC Network, the Disney-branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks and the National Geographic channels stay available to Spectrum TV customers. If we don’t reach a new agreement with Spectrum soon, some of your favorite shows may be gone from your lineup including SportsCenter and exclusive live sports such as Monday Night Football and college football plus Mickey Mouse Funhouse, 31 Nights of Halloween, American Horror Story, Welcome to Wrexham, Life Below Zero and much more.”
Update: Spectrum sent Cord Cutters News the following statement about its fight with Disney: “We remain in negotiations with Disney and hope to reach an agreement soon without any disruption to our customers, who remain our top priority.”
Update: The 5 p.m. deadline has passed, but there has been no word of any blackouts or statements from either company. We’ll continue to monitor the situation.
Update: Shortly after the 8 p.m. extended deadline, Spectrum posted on its site confirming that Disney had pulled its content as talks broke down.
Here are all the channels that could go dark on Spectrum cable TV today:
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU, ESPN News, SEC Network, ACC Network, Longhorn Network,
FX, FX Movie Channel, FXX, Freeform, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo,
Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Baby TVABC On Demand programming and the following local ABC stations: ABC7 Chicago, ABC7 Los Angeles, ABC7 New York, ABC7 San Francisco, ABC11 Raleigh-Durham, ABC13 Houston, ABC30 Fresno.
If you are looking for a way to replace Spectrum TV and get ESPN, here are some great options for legal ways to stream ESPN.
Here is the warning message on Spectrum’s DisneyESPNFairDeal.com website:
The Walt Disney Company has threatened to remove their programming from Spectrum which creates hardship for our customers.
We offered Disney a fair deal, yet they are demanding an excessive increase.
They also want to limit our ability to provide greater customer choice in programming packages forcing you to take and pay for channels you may not want.
Spectrum is on your side and fighting to keep costs down while protecting and maximizing customer choice.
The rising cost of programming is the single greatest factor in higher cable TV prices, and we are fighting hard to hold the line on programming rates imposed on us by companies like Disney.
We ask for your patience as we continue to work out a deal that is fair for everyone.
Disney-owned channels and stations that could be impacted:
ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU, ESPN News, SEC Network, ACC Network, Longhorn Network,
FX, FX Movie Channel, FXX, Freeform, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo,
Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, Baby TVABC On Demand programming and the following local ABC stations: ABC7 Chicago, ABC7 Los Angeles, ABC7 New York, ABC7 San Francisco, ABC11 Raleigh-Durham, ABC13 Houston, ABC30 Fresno.