Disney blames Constitution for the ESPN blackout

Final week, Disney blocked Constitution’s Spectrum cable from accessing channels like ABC and ESPN over a disagreement between the 2 corporations over new monetary phrases. In the present day, Disney says in a weblog put up that though Constitution “claims to worth Disney’s direct-to-consumer providers,” it’s “demanding these completely different providers at no cost.”

With cable step by step dropping clients and Disney overtly musing about promoting ESPN by itself as a streaming channel, Constitution wished to incorporate Disney’s streaming apps with its subscriptions. The blackout comes throughout a weekend when high-profile sports activities occasions just like the US Open and massive faculty soccer video games are taking place (to not point out the primary NFL video games begin subsequent weekend).

Constitution says Disney solely has itself guilty for a video ecosystem that doesn’t work, driving up the costs for streaming and pulling content material from cable. Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge

Different cable corporations have taken a special path in coping with cable’s decline. Frontier and WOW!, as an illustration, each stated to heck with it this yr and primarily grew to become YouTube TV distributors.