All Disney Owned Cable Channels Disappear: ESPN, ABC, and More Canceled

If you are wondering why all of your Disney-owned channels like ABC, the Disney Channel, and ESPN have blacked out on your TV screen, there is a reason for that.

When people think of Disney, a lot of things come to mind! First off, you may think of the iconic characters such as Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, and Daisy. There are also iconic characters like the Disney princesses. Of course, now with the IP acquisitions of Marvel and Star Wars, those franchises jump into our heads as well.

The theme parks around the world also play a huge part in our perception of The Walt Disney Company. If you have ever been to Walt Disney World, you surely would think of Magic Kingdom when someone brings up Disney, and your first experience walking down the middle of Main Street, U.S.A. and seeing Cinderella Castle for the first time.

All of our love for the magic of Disney, however, began on a TV screen. By watching movies on the Disney channel, and getting to know the stories being told while sitting on our couches at home, many of us developed an affinity for the company. Without all of the Disney-owned channels being available, many would probably have a delayed start to learning more about the company.

Unfortunately, many have has all Disney-owned channels go dark.

Disney Entertainment-owned channels including ABC and ESPN went dark Thursday night for Charter Spectrum subscribers after the companies failed to agree on terms for Charter to carry Disney programming.

CBS reported, “The so-called carriage dispute came to a head as ESPN was airing both the U.S. Open tennis tournament and a college football game between the University of Utah and the University of Florida. Charter, a provider of broadband and cable services, has 14.7 million subscribers.

Disney-owned channels affected by the blackout include the Disney Channel, ESPN, Freeform, National Geographic and many local stations on the ABC network. Some major cities affected include Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Houston.”

Spectrum has released a statement about the removal of their content, stating:

The Walt Disney Company has removed their programming from Spectrum which creates hardship for our customers.

We offered Disney a fair deal, yet they are demanding an excessive increase.

They also want to limit our ability to provide greater customer choice in programming packages forcing you to take and pay for channels you may not want.

Spectrum is on your side and fighting to keep costs down while protecting and maximizing customer choice.

The rising cost of programming is the single greatest factor in higher cable TV prices, and we are fighting hard to hold the line on programming rates imposed on us by companies like Disney.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Below is a list of the Disney-owned channels and stations impacted:

ESPN, ESPN2, ESPN Deportes, ESPNU, ESPN News, SEC Network, ACC Network, Longhorn Network, FX, FX Movie Channel, FXX, Freeform, National Geographic, Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo Mundo, Disney Channel, Disney Junior, Disney XD, BabyTV.

ABC On Demand programming and the following local ABC stations: ABC7 Chicago, ABC7 Los Angeles, ABC7 New York, ABC7 San Francisco, ABC11 Raleigh-Durham, ABC13 Houston, ABC30 Fresno.

Related: Disney and Amazon Teaming Up for Mega Streaming Service

Both Disney and Spectrum will continue to negotiate, but with football returning, it will likely be a big blow for sports fans losing ESPN, and anyone who tuned in to the above channels each day.

Disney+ Drama

Unfortunately, it seems that Disney+ is also undergoing drama with users, much like the cable issues we are seeing.

Recently, Disney held their Q3 2023 Earnings Call. Here we saw that direct-to-consumer sales have increased by 9%. That being said, Disney+ subscribers have dropped to 146.1 million. Disney’s goal for Disney+ subscribers was 154.8 million, so this now falls short. Disney’s “core” consumers increased by 1% — regardless, we are starting to see subscribers drop off now that Disney has begun to reduce the amount of content they are able to bring to their audience; the people paying for these services on a month-to-month basis.

Disney CEO Bob Iger continued to discuss how they have raised prices across Disney+ prices and that ad-supported Disney+ subscription service options have been purchased by 40% of users. Ad-free bundles will also be coming to the US for Disney+ and Hulu, which will, in turn, cost more as their current ad-free options do, increasing Disney+ revenue and decreasing our bank accounts for nothing added — in fact, the service had been detracting and removing content.

Iger also announced that they’ll be cracking down on password sharing, making it impossible to split the cost of Disney+ with friends or family.

In less than a year, Disney+ will be increasing the monthly cost of its ad-free plan up $3 to $13.99 in October. Hulu, which Disney owns a majority stake in, will also increase the monthly cost of its ad-free subscription up $3 to $17.99.

Disney+ is currently in the midst of a historic content purge, which has garnered the attention of fans from around the world. Disney removed more than 50 titles from both Disney+ and Hulu, including dozens of full-length films and series, in an attempt to cut costs. Now, having made it to Q3, we can see that this content disposal campaign has not helped their Disney+ numbers.

Fans have even go as far as to ask Joe Biden, President of the United States, for help. 

Have you been impacted by this Disney / Spectrum dispute? 

If you are looking to visit Walt Disney World Resort for a magical vacation, the Walt Disney World Website can be a great tool to begin planning your trip! You can begin exploring their theme parks: Magic Kingdom, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and EPCOT. You can also take a look at their water parks where you can splash around in the chill of Disney’s Blizzard Beach (alongside new Frozen characters, Anna, Elsa, Sven, and Kristoff), or hit the waves at Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon. When you get hungry or want to go shopping, Disney Springs is the place to be, especially with World of Disney there ready to help you pick up some souvenirs! You can also begin looking for your Disney World Resort! If you are looking to stay at a Deluxe monorail Resort like Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort and Spa or a Value Resort where you can hop on the Skyliner like Disney’s Pop Century Resort, it is always fun to begin looking for a room that would best suit you and your party. Plus, it has all the information you need to know on Disney Genie+ so that you will be ready to go on your My Disney Experience app once you download it! Click here to check it out today.