In the ongoing battle between DirecTV and Disney over carriage agreements, the tension between the two companies continues to escalate. After DirecTV shared its side of the story in a conference call with Wall Street analysts, Disney has now fired back, accusing the pay-TV operator of misrepresenting the facts.

In a statement from leaders at Disney, including Dana Walden and Alan Bergman, co-chairmen of Disney Entertainment, and Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN, the company expressed its priority of reaching a fair deal that benefits both DirecTV and its customers, while acknowledging the value of its top-quality content and the substantial investment required to create it.

Disney's networks, including ABC and ESPN, have been inaccessible to over 11 million DirecTV subscribers since Sunday evening, leaving them without access to popular shows like The Bachelorette and college football games. The impasse becomes even more critical as two major programming events, Monday Night Football and the upcoming presidential debate hosted by ABC, are scheduled for next week.

While negotiations over carriage agreements have always been fraught with disagreements over fees, the rise of streaming services has added further complexity to the process. Disney previously experienced a 10-day outage on Charter's Spectrum cable systems last year, resulting in some networks losing cable carriage. However, the agreement reached between the two parties included provisions for integrating streaming services for Spectrum subscribers.

DirecTV has been advocating for smaller channel bundles and claims to have proposed several options, including a sports-focused package, to Disney. However, Disney counters that DirecTV has not genuinely engaged with any proposals for slimmer and cheaper channel packages. According to a Disney spokesperson, the company has offered a sports-focused package that includes ABC and ESPN networks, as well as an entertainment-based offering.

The arrival of NFL football has raised speculations on whether it will be a catalyst to prompt a resolution in the dispute. However, a Disney spokesperson highlighted the overall value of their portfolio, extending beyond just sports. According to Nielsen, over 90% of DirecTV households watched Disney linear programming every month in 2023, marking it as the most engaging content owner on the platform.

Disney maintains that its demands for rates are in line with the broader marketplace and that they reflect the value of their content. With both companies standing their ground, it remains to be seen how the impasse will be resolved, and whether subscribers will regain access to Disney's popular networks in the near future.