The pressure is on for DirecTV to sign a new carriage deal with Disney. If it doesn’t, several channels operated by the House of Mouse could be unavailable to customers of the digital satellite service as early as September 1. 

DirecTV, which had 11.3 million subscribers at the end of 2023, is aiming to change the contract terms that cable and satellite services usually operate under. Its agreement with Disney has traditionally required DirecTV to charge customers for channels such as ESPN and Disney Channel, whether or not they actually want or watch them. 

DirecTV is proposing to launch smaller genre-focused channels, including one that consolidates kids programming. The goal is also to create cheaper bundles that are priced closer to what consumers are comfortable paying in this age of so many competing services. 

But Disney’s president of platform distribution, Justin Connolly, says that DirecTV has not done a great job of communicating its proposals for a flexible bundling strategy, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

If DirecTV and Disney do manage to forge some kind of genre-based agreement, this could set a new standard for the types of bundles that other studios and pay-TV subscribers offer in the future.