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Customers of Charter’s Spectrum cable service hoping to watch Florida-Utah on ESPN are being met with a blackout.
ESPN went dark on the service on Thursday as the two sides are in a carriage dispute.
Wall Street Journal media reporter Joe Flint shared a tweet of the screen on ESPN for Spectrum customers.
“The Walt Disney Company, the owner of this channel, has removed their programming from Spectrum which creates hardship for our customers,” the screen reads.
“We apologize for the inconvenience and are continuing to negotiate in good faith to reach a fair agreement.”
The screen also offers a website and QR code for customers to voice their concerns.
“We’ve been in ongoing negotiations with Charter Communications for some time and have not yet agreed to a new market-based agreement,” Disney Entertainment told The Post in a statement. “As a result, their Spectrum TV subscribers no longer have access to our unrivaled portfolio of live sporting events and news coverage plus kids, family and general entertainment programming from the ABC Owned Television Stations, the ESPN networks, the Disney-branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks and the National Geographic channels.”
It is unknown how far apart the sides are, but cable and satellite operators pay about $9.42 per month to carry ESPN, according to a Wall Street Journal report that cited S&P Global Market Intelligence figures this past May.
Spectrum makes up a pretty significant proportion of ESPN’s homes.
According to a story in Hollywood Reporter last month, Spectrum has over 14 million pay-TV subscribers.
ESPN is in about 70 million homes now, which means that about 20 percent of their households are dark right now.
The Post’s Andrew Marchand has reported that ESPN is expecting to launch a direct-to-consumer package in 2025 or 2026, which would be a solution for pay-TV customers who are diehard sports fans and lose ESPN in any potential future carriage disputes.
“Disney Entertainment has successful deals in place with pay TV providers of all types and sizes across the country, and the rates and terms we are seeking in this renewal are driven by the marketplace,” Disney’s statement continued. “We’re committed to reaching a mutually agreed upon resolution with Charter and we urge them to work with us to minimize the disruption to their customers.”