ESPN, ABC and More Disney-Owned Channels Go Dark on Charter Spectrum Amid Carriage Fight
variety.comJ. Kim Murphy ESPN, ABC, Disney Channel and other outlets owned by the Walt Disney Co. have gone dark on Charter Spectrum cable systems, which serve nearly 15 million subscribers in New York, Los Angeles and other major markets.
Disney channels were pulled off Charter systems on Thursday afternoon about 5 p.m. PT after the sides failed to reach an agreement on a new carriage pact.
More than 25 networks are affected, including ABC-owned television stations, ESPN and its sibling channels, Freeform, FX and National Geographic. “The Walt Disney Company has removed their programming from Spectrum which creates hardship for our customers.
We offered Disney a fair deal, yet they are demanding an excessive increase,” Spectrum said in a statement, bolding the word “excessive.” “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.
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