Walt Disney Co. (NYSE:DIS) and pay-TV provider, DirecTV, owned by AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and TPG Capital are currently in contract renewal talks that could reshape the pay-TV landscape.
What Happened: DirecTV intends to change the long-standing contract terms that require cable and satellite TV distributors to bill customers for channels like ESPN, regardless of whether they view it or not, reported Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the discussion.
The pay-TV provider plans to offer smaller, genre-specific channel packages, such as kids' programming, movies, news, local stations, sports, or Spanish language.
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Disney is reportedly open to offering sports-specific packages to other distributors and is willing to negotiate lower minimum subscriber guarantees.
If an agreement is not reached, channels such as ABC and ESPN may be blacked out starting Sept. 1, the report noted.
Last week in a blog post, Rob Thun, chief content officer at DirecTV, hinted that consumers are seeking more flexibility and lower prices, similar to streaming providers like Netflix.
"Pay-TV subscribers have been declining because of our collective failure to evolve to meet consumer preferences," he stated.
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Why It Matters: DirecTV's negotiations with Disney come on the heels of its transformation into a streaming service.
Earlier this month, it was reported that to retain customers who are increasingly opting for streaming services, DirecTV has decided to eliminate the need for a satellite dish to access its content.
The PayTV provider has also raised concerns. In June National Football League lost a jury trial where the league and DirecTV were accused of conspiring to inflate the cost of subscriptions.
Meanwhile, Disney has reported a strong third-quarter earnings. For the first time, the company's combined streaming business including Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+ turned a profit.
Photo Courtesy: Direct TV Website
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迪士尼公司（NYSE:DIS）和付費電視提供商DirecTV，由AT&T Inc.（NYSE:T）和TPG Capital擁有，在目前正在進行合同續簽談判，這可能重塑付費電視行業格局。
《彭博社》援引知情人士的報道稱，DirecTV打算改變長期合同條款，要求有線和衛星電視分發商向客戶收取類似ESPN等頻道的費用，無論他們是否觀看。
該付費電視提供商計劃提供更小的、按類型劃分的頻道套餐，例如兒童節目、電影、新聞、本地電視臺、體育或西班牙語頻道。
報道稱，蘋果將在9月10日的活動上推出iPhone 16、手錶和AirPods。
據報道，迪士尼對向其他分銷商提供專門的體育頻道包裝方案持開放態度，並願意就較低的最低訂閱用戶數保證進行協商。
如果雙方不能達成協議，像ABC和ESPN這樣的頻道可能會從9月1日開始停播。
DirecTV的首席內容官Rob Thun在上週的一篇博文中暗示，消費者正在尋求更多靈活性和更低的價格，類似於奈飛等流媒體提供商。
他表示：「由於我們共同的無力滿足消費者偏好的演變，付費電視的訂閱用戶數一直在下降。」
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爲什麼很重要：在DirecTV轉變爲流媒體服務後，它與迪士尼的談判是及時的。
本月早些時候曾報道稱，爲了留住越來越多選擇流媒體服務的用戶，DirecTV決定不再需要衛星接收器來觀看內容。
該付費電視供應商也引起了擔憂。今年6月，全美橄欖球聯盟輸掉了一場陪審團審判，該聯盟和DirecTV被指控串通漲價訂閱費用。
與此同時，迪士尼報告了強勁的第三季度收益。公司的流媒體業務，包括Disney+、Hulu和ESPN+，首次實現了盈利。
照片：Direct TV官網
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