DirecTV filed a complaint on Saturday with the Federal Communications Commission, alleging that Disney failed to negotiate in good faith as the satellite provider’s blackout of Disney-owned networks continues into a second week.
The FCC complaint states that Disney “has failed to negotiate in good faith,” according to a statement from the service.
“Disney has violated the FCC’s good faith mandates by predicating any licensing agreement on DirecTV’s waiving any legal claims on Disney’s past, current or future anticompetitive actions, including its ongoing packaging and minimum penetration demands,” the statement added.
“The negotiations have stalled because Disney insists on bundling and penetration requirements that a federal district court judge in New York recently found in the context of the ‘Venu’ joint venture to be unlawful, anticompetitive, and ‘bad for consumers,’” the complaint states in part. “Disney wants to force DirecTV to carry a ‘fat bundle’ including less desirable Disney programming — while itself offering cheaper, ‘skinnier’ bundles of programming that consumers want. The Commission has never considered a good faith complaint in these circumstances, and DirecTV may well wish to bring one in the future concerning Disney’s conduct.”
The complaint continues, “Along with these anticompetitive demands, Disney has also insisted that DirecTV agree to a ‘clean slate’ provision and a covenant not to sue, both of which are intended to prevent DirecTV from taking legal action regarding Disney’s anticompetitive demands, which would include filing good faith complaints at the Commission. Not three months ago, however, the Media Bureau made clear that such a demand itself constitutes bad faith.”
The carriage dispute began last week when Disney and DirecTV failed to reach an agreement before their prior distribution agreement expired on Sept. 1. As a result, several Disney-owned channels — including ESPN and ABC — were pulled from DirecTV’s service. Millions of customers have been impacted, with many unable to watch the beginning of the NFL season or the U.S. Open. ABC News is also set to host the Sept. 10 debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.
“We continue to negotiate with DirecTV to restore access to our content as quickly as possible,” a Disney representative told The Hollywood Reporter. “We urge DirecTV to stop creating diversions and instead prioritize their customers by finalizing a deal that would allow their subscribers to watch our strong upcoming lineup of sports, news and entertainment programming, starting with the return of Monday Night Football.”
In regard to DirecTV’s alleging a “clean slate” provision, Disney added that the mutual release of claims is standard practice after licensing agreements and agreed upon by the parties. According to Disney, the company had had such agreements with DirecTV with every previous renewal and therefore argues that DirecTV is not negotiating in good faith to reach a resolution.
