The Facts
Disney and Charter Communication — the parent company of Spectrum cable company — have reached an agreement that will allow Spectrum customers to access Disney’s programming, including ABC and ESPN, thereby ending an 11-day dispute.
On Aug. 31, Spectrum removed Disney-owned channels from its cable subscriptions due to a dispute over carriage fees – the amount of money cable companies pay networks to air their channels — which left customers without access to NCAA and NFL football games, US Open tennis matchups, and many popular channels.
The Spin
Narrative A
Disney extorted Spectrum and its subscribers as it “negotiated” to bring popular channels back to millions of subscribers. It's clear that Spectrum wasn't trying to nickel and dime Disney — the cable company just wanted to pay a fair carriage fee in order to keep customer costs down and stop the financial bleeding via cord cutting. However, Disney’s massive corporate greed deprived millions of Americans, including home-state Floridians, of their favorite sports and channels. Disney needs to start caring about its loyal customers again.
Narrative B
While Spectrum fought Disney over the right to broadcast key channels, the cable company still billed customers for channels that were restricted during the carriage fee standoff. While some may blame Disney for the dispute, Charter, unlike all other major television companies, refused to extend programming while it negotiated a long-term deal. Charter should’ve put customers ahead of its petty dispute with Disney.
