Millions of DirecTV customers can’t access Disney’s channels

Millions of sports fans were left saying “hello darkness, my old friend” on Sunday, after Disney unexpectedly pulled all of its stations – which include ESPN, ABC, and live TV on Hulu – from DirecTV in the middle of the US Open.

The move happened during the fourth round of the tennis Grand Slam, and just ten minutes before the start of the highly anticipated college-football matchup between #13 LSU and #23 USC. With 11.3 million subscribers, DirecTV is the third-largest TV provider in the US, according to the Leichtman Research Group, a media analysis firm.

Post-midnight Cinderella isn’t the only one without a carriage. The blackout occurred due to the companies’ inability to reach a mutual carriage agreement. The big sticking points: Disney wants to charge DirecTV higher fees to carry its higher-demand channels (too high fees, per DirecTV), while DirecTV wants more flexibility in how it can package and market Disney’s channels to consumers.

• Fun fact: Carriage agreements are usually scheduled to expire ahead of major events (like the start of the NFL season), so as to give an incentive for both sides to reach a deal.

💭 Déjà vu: This is the second year in a row Disney has pulled programming over Labor Day weekend; the industry giant did the same thing last year with Spectrum, claiming the company had devalued their material. This dispute resulted in an eleven-day blackout of all Disney channels on the platform, with an agreement reached just hours before the first Monday Night Football game of the season.