The ongoing fight between the Walt Disney Company and DirecTV means potentially millions of households won’t be able to watch next week’s presidential debate on ABC, as the Disney-owned network is currently blacked out to DirecTV subscribers.
Disney and DirecTV are feuding over terms of their carriage agreement, which expired at the start of September. As a result, DirecTV subscribers cannot access Disney-owned channels, including ABC, ESPN, FX, and many others.
DirecTV, which is owned by AT&T, has an estimated 11.3 million subscribers nationwide.
While negotiations were believed to be ongoing, there were no active discussions as recently as Tuesday, unnamed sources told Deadline.
Moreover, DirecTV CEO Ray Carpenter has reportedly dismissed predictions that there is light at the end of the tunnel. “We’re not playing a short-term game,” he said on a conference call Tuesday.
That spells potentially bad news for ABC, which is hoping for a ratings bonanza in the first televised showdown between former President Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.
ABC is still set air the debate on September 10, at 9 p.m., ET, from the National Constitutional Center in Philadelphia.
It remains unclear if ABC News will stream the debate on its official site, as CNN did with the debate between Trump and Biden.
The debate rules for next week state that there will be no live studio audience and that candidates won’t be allowed to bring notes. In addition, each candidate’s microphone will only be turned on when it was their turn to speak.
Kamala Harris tried to change the rules at the last minute — with some surmising she was hoping to orchestrate another girlboss “I’m speaking!” moment. But, as Breitbart News reported, her campaign eventually caved after Trump refused to give in.
The debate will be Kamala Harris’ first solo, unscripted televised event since she became her party’s anointed candidate.
To date, she has refused to hold a press conference or sit for a live interview in what many are seeing as a concerted effort by Democrat leaders to shield her from difficult questions about record consumer prices and unprecedented levels of illegal immigration, both of which have occurred under her watch.
Follow David Ng on Twitter @HeyItsDavidNg. Have a tip? Contact me at
