As the Disney-Charter dispute goes into a second weekend and the opening of the NFL season, the Mouse House is offering Hulu + Live TV at a discount.
Last week, we told you that Disney was suggesting Spectrum cable customers to subscribe to Hulu + Live TV while Charter was recommending fuboTV at a discounted price of $69.99 a month.
Now Disney is lowering the price of Hulu+Live TV to $49.99/month for the next three months. This offer expires on October 11.
Disney upping the stakes in its battle with Charter: It’s cutting the price on Hulu with Live TV (which includes access to Disney+) to $50/mo for 3 months. That’s about $25 off normal rate. pic.twitter.com/RZ49nfjs7Z
— TVMoJoe (@TVMoJoe) September 8, 2023
This is the latest salvo in the carriage dispute between the two media companies which began on August 31 when Disney’s networks went dark on Spectrum’s systems affecting close to 15 million people in some of the country’s largest media markets, including New York and Los Angeles.
The lack of Disney’s channels which includes all of the ESPN’s as well as the college conference networks has hit viewership of college football, US Open and if this doesn’t get resolved soon, Monday Night Football.
During the US Open tournament, women’s singles finalist Coco Gauff mentioned that she could not watch ESPN because the hotel she’s staying in has Spectrum. And men’s singles finalist Daniil Medvedev said he had to resort to finding illegal streams to scout his opponents. Deadline reported that “about 15-20 athletes, outside press and internal ESPN talent who have been granted complimentary access to match coverage via Hulu + Live while staying in New York City, a top Spectrum market.”
But with the new discount for Hulu + Live TV, Gauff, Medvedev and anyone else in the U.S. can subscribe to the service and save $20 off the regular monthly price. On October 12, the monthly price for the service will jump to $76.99.
The dispute appears to have no resolution in sight. Neither side has scheduled talks for the upcoming week.
[Deadline]
About Ken Fang
Ken has been covering the sports media in earnest at his own site, Fang's Bites since May 2007 and at Awful Announcing since March 2013.
He provides a unique perspective having been an award-winning radio news reporter in Providence and having worked in local television.
Fang celebrates the four Boston Red Sox World Championships in the 21st Century, but continues to be a long-suffering Cleveland Browns fan.