It’s unclear who blinked but someone did and the brief carriage dispute that saw all Disney-owned channels, including ESPN networks, removed from Dish and Sling TV is now over (presuming a new deal is officially signed).
Wall Street Journal media reporter Joe Flint was the first to report the news.
Dish and Disney reach tentative deal and channels will be restored. Story coming.
— Joe Flint (@JBFlint) October 3, 2022
Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand reported a statement from Disney, stating that “We have reached a handshake agreement with DISH/Sling TV…As a result, we are pleased to restore our portfolio of networks on a temporary basis while both parties work to finalize a new deal.”
Disney: "We have reached a handshake agreement with DISH/Sling TV…As a result, we are pleased to restore our portfolio of networks on a temporary basis while both parties work to finalize a new deal."
— John Ourand (@Ourand_Puck) October 3, 2022
Soon after, Dish posted a tweet announcing that “we are pleased to announce that all your Disney and ESPN channels have been restored.”
We are pleased to announce that all your Disney and ESPN channels have been restored.
Thank you for your patience and support. pic.twitter.com/ZBTlHRHdkD
— DISH (@dish) October 3, 2022
And Sling did the same.
We are pleased to announce that all your Disney and ESPN channels have been restored.
Thank you for your patience and support. pic.twitter.com/7ITcvcJ9iv
— sling (@Sling) October 3, 2022
It’s quite the stark difference in language from Friday when news of the dispute first broke. Then, Dish accused Disney is “holding viewers hostage” and that their demand of “nearly a billion dollar increase” is untenable.
Disney, meanwhile, had said that “after months of negotiating in good faith, Dish has declined to reach a fair, market-based agreement with us for continued distribution of our networks.”
This ends the second major carriage blackout for Disney in the past year, following their dispute with YouTubeTV in December.
For Dish, they can add The Mouse to their long list of networks and content companies they have entered into carriage disputes with, including TEGNA, Sinclair, NBC Sports, Capitol Broadcasting, Nexstar, NFL Network & RedZone, and Fox.
The good news for NFL fans is that the channels were restored just in time to ensure that all subscribers will get to watch Monday Night Football on ESPN. However, that’s small consolation for the college football fans who missed much of Saturday’s action on the ESPN networks and ABC (in some markets).
