In another sign of just how serious the ongoing dispute between ESPN/Disney and Charter Communications is, it appears Disney has tapped into the social media reach of ESPN star Stephen A. Smith to get its message out and push cable subscribers to other platforms.
A message was posted to Smith’s X (formerly known as Twitter) profile on Tuesday morning calling out Charter for “coming after the World Wide Leader.”
The post continues, “Bottom Line: YOU HAVE CHOICES!!!” and points Smith’s followers to a website where they can find a service suited to their needs. Smith’s post notably includes non-Disney owned live TV services like DIRECTV Stream and YouTube TV in addition to Hulu Live TV, which Disney owns.
Don’t know if y’all heard all the news going on in the Charter Markets with Spectrum, but folks are once again coming after the World Wide Leader.
Fans currently don’t have access to live games on ESPN Networks — or any content from Disney-Branded Channels Freeform, FX and Nat…— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) September 5, 2023
ESPN has been dark on Charter-owned Spectrum since Thursday night, and the PR war of words since then has been fairly intense. Charter, the second-largest cable provider in the United States, is taking on Disney over the number of lesser-watched channels it is required to carry as well as what the company sees as unfair treatment of customers who currently pay for both Disney cable channels as well as its direct-to-consumer streaming apps such as Hulu, ESPN+ and Disney+.
Charter CEO Chris Winfrey said recently that if Disney is unwilling to accept what Charter sees as creative and forward-looking plans that combine cable and streaming in one package for Spectrum customers, Charter could opt to move on “without Disney content permanently,” likely a worst-case scenario for both companies.
The post to Smith’s account is a compact version of a Disney statement released Monday that also pointed disgruntled Spectrum customers toward Hulu Live TV and other streaming cable services.
The timing of Charter’s aggressive negotiating tactics seems to have caught Disney by surprise this week, and while they have handled things traditionally so far, making use of Smith’s nearly 6 million followers certainly signals a higher level of urgency.
About Brendon Kleen
Brendon is a Media Commentary staff writer at Awful Announcing. He has also covered basketball and sports business at Front Office Sports, SB Nation, Uproxx and more.