Disney Pulls The Plug On Its Massachusetts Cable Subscribers

Like I always say, who watches cable TV anymore? I do for the most part but 90% of the time watching TV is not always an option since I'm usually always on the go with other tasks. Last week my dad was flipping through the channels and this is what he saw when he tuned to a Disney owned channel such as ESPN.

Why are we seeing this message instead of Disney owned programming?

According to USAToday, Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum Cable, and Disney are currently in negotiations over access fees and that they offered Disney a fair deal, but yet they are demanding an excessive increase. They also want to limit Spectrum's ability to provide greater customer choice in programming packages which would mean forcing you to take and pay for channels you may not want.

What channels are affected?

• ESPN
• SEC Network
• ACC Network
• FX
• FX Movie Channel
• FXX
• Freeform
• National Geographic
• Nat Geo Wild
• Nat Geo Mundo
• Disney Channel
• Disney Junior
• Disney XD
• Baby TV

Has Disney pulled the plug before?

This is not the first time Disney has pulled its channels from a carrier when similar situation happened in 2021  when the company pulled its channels from YouTubeTV during access fee negotiations with parent company Google. The channels were removed from the streaming service before an agreement was reached. Unfortunately, It's still too early to tell if a similar resolution will be found with Spectrum.

What about their main streaming service like Disney+?

Disney's streaming service continues to lose money, with Disney+ operating at a reported $512 million in the red, in the company's most recently closed fiscal quarter. Let's pray Disney gets their act together and makes the right decision not only for Spectrum, but for all their customers that have supported them for many decades.