Spectrum cable subscribers were gearing up for a night of football on Thursday night. But they were in for a shock as ESPN channels went dark on Spectrum at about 8 p.m. on August 31.
It was just before the Florida vs. Utah match to the shock of many when they saw ESPN not working on Spectrum.
College football fans, who had been waiting for more than seven months to see the first marquee matchup of the season were left disappointed by the shocking turn of events.
The blackout began during a highly anticipated match-up between Florida and Utah which ESPN had been broadcasting. The reason behind ESPN channels going dark on Spectrum is a dispute between Spectrum and Disney.
Why Is ESPN Not Working On Spectrum?
The reason behind ESPN not working on Spectrum is a dispute between Spectrum and Disney. Spectrum and Disney, which owns ESPN and other networks, are locked in a dispute over access fees.
Charter Spectrum cable systems hold the major market in New York, Los Angeles and other major markets as they serve nearly 15 million subscribers.
Due to the Spectrum and Disney dispute more than 25 networks are affected, including ABC-owned television stations, Freeform, FX and National Geographic, ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ACC Network, SEC Network and The Longhorn Network.
Disney Confirms Outage:
Disney has released a statement confirming the dispute and wrote, “We have been unable to reach a market-based agreement with Charter Communications (Spectrum) to continue carrying our networks.”
Spectrum Replies:
Spectrum also released a statement asserting that the dispute is Disney’s fault.
“We offered Disney a fair deal, yet they are demanding an excessive increase. They 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.”
Fans react to the outage
It is currently unclear if or when Disney cable programming will return to Spectrum. Disney is urging Spectrum customers to contact the cable provider.
Here is some good news for fans even if ESPN and its networks might not be available on Spectrum, viewers can still access the games through other streaming services.
Fubo, which offers a free trial, carries ESPN’s family networks. All games broadcast on ESPN networks are also available to stream for ESPN+ subscribers.