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DirecTV and Disney Reach Deal That Ends ESPN, ABC Blackout

The agreement comes just in time to let DirecTV customers check out Sunday's Emmy Awards and Monday Night Football.

Headshot of Edward Moyer
Headshot of Edward Moyer
Edward Moyer Former Senior Editor
Ed is a many-year veteran of the writing and editing world who enjoys taking sentences apart and putting them back together. He also likes making them from scratch. For more than a quarter of a century, he's edited and written stories about various aspects of the technology world, from the US National Security Agency's controversial spying techniques to historic NASA space missions to 3D-printed works of fine art. Before that, he wrote about movies, musicians, artists and subcultures. Outside of work, he has a weakness for gardens and parks, and for 18th and 19th century novels (and more recent ones as well).
Credentials
  • Ed was a member of the CNET crew that won a National Magazine Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors for general excellence online. He's also edited pieces that've nabbed prizes from the Society of Professional Journalists and others.
Edward Moyer
DirecTV on phone
Thomas Trutschel/Getty Images

DirecTV customers can again access Disney channels like ESPN and ABC, ending a two-week blackout, the companies said Saturday.

"We'd like to thank all affected viewers for their patience and are pleased to restore Disney's entire portfolio of networks in time for college football and the Emmy Awards this weekend," DirecTV and Disney said in a joint statement.

On Sept. 1, Disney removed all its TV channels from the DirecTV service due to a dispute over licensing agreements. In a statement at the time, DirecTV said "millions of DirecTV, DirecTV Stream and U-verse customers" lost access to Disney programming channels, which include Disney Plus, ESPN, ABC, Hulu, Freeform and FX. DirecTV had 11.3 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Statista.

The scuffle between Disney and DirecTV was a bit of a replay in regard to football season -- last year, on Aug. 31, Spectrum TV viewers suddenly lost access to Disney programming due to another licensing agreement dispute. 

DirectTV customers will now be able to dial in ESPN to catch NFL Monday Night Football games, as well as college gridiron action. They'll also be able to check out the Emmys on Sunday on Disney's ABC broadcast network, to watch top nominees Shōgun and The Bear duke it out with all the rest of the shows.

Read more: Who Deserves to Win This Year's Emmy Awards? We've Got the Answers

CNET's Peter Butler contributed to this report.