The dispute between DirecTV and Disney continues – and DirecTV are truly feeling the negative affects as they have now reported a loss in subscribers. Customers have lost access to all Disney owned channels, and if you know anything about streaming, Disney own a lot of channels. From ABC to ESPN, customers have been forced to go without.
DIRECTV chief marketing officer Vince Torres has confirmed the loss of subscribers, but feels confident that they can earn back their losses. Torres accused Disney’s approach as “shortsighted” as they pushed for minimum penetration requirements during negotiations.
He also stressed that the money saved in carriage fees is being paid to customers who have been affected by the dispute. “Over the long-term, the bet is, yes, customers are annoyed, and with that comes churn,” Torres said. “The choice and flexibility that we’re fighting for opens the market much more significantly. I fundamentally believe we’re making progress on getting that choice and flexibility, and over the long-term, we’ll be able to claw back these short-term losses and grow to a significant degree.”
Disney’s alleged actions led to DirecTV filing a complaint with the FCC. They accused Disney of acting in bad faith. “There are multiple instances where these negotiations have treaded well outside of what we consider to be good-faith discussions,” Torres went on to say.
“Think of the Fubo litigation that they’re in right now. They’re trying to avoid that in the future. It’s unbelievable. It’s an unbelievable request.”
“We don’t believe you need to have a loss leader in one service, and as a result of that, we are profitable across all our services,” Torres said proudly. “That’s hard. I don’t think many streaming companies out there can say that.”
Both parties have their concerns, and it could take a long time to get to the bottom of this dispute. One thing is for sure though – DirecTV customers want more!
