Want to disconnect service now that ESPN, Disney and ABC are gone.

Negotiations do require at least 2. However, Disney did have the choice to leave the channels on as a sign of good faith when negotiations went longer. They decided not to.

Disney owns the broadcast rights so yes it was them that took away the feed.

And you are not paying DirecTV to "represent your interests". Look up that in the dictionary since you want to dump that on others. You pay DirecTV for TV by satellite. Programming is subject to change. DirecTV is not your advocate or anything of the like to come close to representing your interests.

ESPN and Disney networks are the premier channels in our household. $20 credit? Oh thanks so much! No football games, no US Open tennis. Come on man! I won't stand for this much longer. You guys better (Edited per community guidelines) it up and get this deal done or you're going to lose a lot of customers like me!

ESPN and Disney networks are the premier channels in our household. $20 credit? Oh thanks so much! No football games, no US Open tennis. Come on man! I won't stand for this much longer. You guys better (Edited per community guidelines) it up and get this deal done or you're going to lose a lot of customers like me!

Instead of a meaningless $20, how about waiving our cancellation fee if we want to leave due to the incompetence of DirecTV to get a deal done.

Im tired of hearing DirecTV is the victim here and Disney is the big bad villain. DirecTV isn’t on any mercy mission and any savings they get in this negotiation won’t be passed on to the consumer.

In the end, Disney won’t lose; DirecTV won’t lose. The only losers in this as usual will be the consumers.

I never would have signed up for this crap service if I knew this was going to happen.

For people like me, this thing is simply stupid because I pay a lot to watch ABC for local and national news after work in the evening and I watch BBC America for incredible animal and environmental shows. I have MAX for movies and some series. Much of the rest of the programming on DirectTV is garbage, for example, the channels (more than one!) devoted to "How to Fix Your Creepy Skin" for God's sake! Why are we paying for stupid junk like that? Why can't I pick the 2 or 3 channels I actually watch, add MAX, and be done with it instead of the robbery of being forced to pay for lots of junk I never ever watch? For folks like me--forget Disney and their greedy maneuvering, let them offer their stuff as a stand-alone (like Max, for example).

After reading through many posts on this issue here, I think that Shannon and Juniper, who are apparently "ACE's", would represent their status better by being less know-it-all and snotty to the other posters. Most folks who come here are inconvenienced and annoyed by what has happened, they want to ask questions and express their beliefs about it. No one needs to be addressed like they are a 5-year-old, that only causes the posts to become increasingly less civil. This isn't just a DirectTV issue, but it has certainly pushed a lot of buttons. Folks are fed up with feeling like big money is constantly looking for ways to stick their hands in the working-class pockets. In this case, they are also taking away many peoples' leisure-time fun (especially sports). Will it ever stop? What are we going to do about it? Be nice and let folks vent about this, please.

Agree! And they make it VERY difficult to complain!

@stoncold68 

DirecTV will not waive the ECF for a carriage dispute. Like other TV providers they go through these annoying negotiations time and again and some network owners pull their channel(s) (as is their right) to play hardball. So they do not waive an ECF for this reason. That being said, with it only be a few days that request is overboard even if it was a waiver consideration.

You accuse incompetence. So you would consider it being competent to give in to Disney's request for higher rates and thereby raising our bills? Perhaps consider the entire situation instead of "man channels are gone, rabble rabble, I am a victim!" mentality. Negotiations are a two way street. I do not say DirecTV is a victim, but Disney is not innocent.

I would rather channels be gone for a few days to minimize any cost increase Disney wants instead of just accepting them to raise by whatever they want.

You say you would never sign up if you knew this would happen. Well this situation affects all TV providers time and time again, none are immune. So the only way to avoid is not get any pay TV provider at all.

@Juniper 

You are literally not even a DirecTV employee:

"*I am not a DIRECTV employee, and the views and opinions expressed on this forum are purely my own. Any product claim, statistic, quote, or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider, or party."

And the information you are offering up does nothing. Zero Merit as you can do nothing to appease the issues people are complaining about and having with their DirecTV service. Time for you and the rest of the people with high posts to sit down and let people vent here until DirecTV takes further notice and offers a better solution to the issue.

I am still paying for a service that is no longer within the agreed upon terms of my contract with DirecTV.

THAT IS THE ISSUE.

@CatFriend0729 

The reason you cannot pick and choose the channels is because the TV industry is designed to be packaged. You get big companies that own multiple networks, right now Disney is the prime example (all channels branded Disney, owning ESPN, any local networks they are affiliated with, etc.). So to get key channels they require all (or a large group) of their owned channels to be carried. I would rather pick individual channels and not pay for your channels or anyone else's, but that is not the reality of the situation.

I get people are annoyed and inconvenienced. But when they are blind to the situation and make unreasonable demands they get called out (especially those that do come off as a 5 year old with their tantrum). They are not going to lose their lives by not being able to watch sports for a few days. No matter how much they personally value the channel doesn't change how much of their bill (specifically the programming package) they actually cost. We ACEs acknowledge that negotiations are between both parties and both act in their own interests. But Disney's interest would raise our bills which is why I say keep negotiating and not cave to their demands.

Unless there is a major change in the TV industry, and while big companies like Disney own high value channels that leverage viewers, this will never stop. It is a situation that goes in circles every time. For this exact situation I don't see anything that can be done about it. Unless someone can buy Disney or break up their ownership (such as allowing ESPN to be a separate option instead of having to be bundled in with the other Disney channels), this is how it will be.

Sports should be a separate option with its own unique package. I and many others have zero interest in paying for sports that we would never ever watch. I also have zero interest in TV for toddlers and "reality TV" for stupid people. 

@QABDJTV 

I am a long time experienced customer of DirecTV. Been though these situations many times so I share the knowledge and experience I have built up over that time.

Your service agreement (contract) has not been violated. Nothing guarantees you those channels. The Terms of Service (ToS) that you agreed to state that those channels can change at any time. And that is a clause that every TV provider has, because they don't own the channels so cannot guarantee any specific channel will be there for any length of time (regardless of your agreement dates).

Venting is one thing. But don't be blind to the reality of how this works. And remember Disney owns the broadcast rights so denying the feed is their choice. They could continue the last agreement, give a better rate to DirecTV and us customers, or even at the very least keep the channel own while negotiations are ongoing. But instead they pulled the feed until this finishes. That is normal business in the TV industry. Certainly not saying anyone has to like it, but at least get a better view of the big picture of the situation.

I am free to discuss and provide information just like any other user. I don't have to wait while people vent and complain. DirecTV either negotiates to minimize rate increases (I would love to avoid, but I am under no illusions on this) or just gives Disney everything they demand and jack up the prices that much more. With that situation what solution would you propose to have DirecTV come out better with this? As a note, throwing money at the situation is not a solution.

From DirecTV: "We appreciate your patience while we negotiate to offer you more flexible channel lineups and all your shows and sports in one place."

I don't appreciate continuing to pay for valuable services/channels that are no longer available to me. When will this be corrected and my billing adjusted accordingly to match the channels I am receiving? I would say 50% of the channels I watched are now gone. Easy math tells me a 50% reduction in my bill due to the missing content is in order.

DirecTV loses hundreds of thousands of users quarterly now. This customer based loss is only going to increase until this major issue is solved and a positive resolution is found and put in to action. Time is of the essence to save the existing customer base.

Like it or not, it is true that we must wait in order to keep Disney from getting their way, leading to increases for DirectTV customers. Caving in so we have channels back sooner will not lead to a good financial outcome for us as consumers. And it is also true that all the other TV providers go through this nonsense as well. DirectTV is more or less restricted in what what course of action will lead to the best outcome price-wise. We just have to accept that.

I would say 50% of the channels I watched are now gone. Easy math tells me a 50% reduction in my bill due to the missing content is in order.

That may be "easy" math but is not correct math. Sure it can be 50% of what you watch, but it is not 50% of your bill as your services are more than just those channels.

TV providers are subscription based, not usage based. So comes down to all you are provided, not just the parts you choose (or claim) to use. Regardless of how you feel about those channels, this is the reality on how billing works.