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Disney Goes Dark on DirecTV Over Contract Dispute Impacting ‘General Hospital’ ‘The Bachelorette Finale’ and Potentially NFL ‘Monday Night Football’ Opener

By Michael Fairman

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Photos: ABC

In another carriage dispute, Disney-owned channels including ABC and ESPN have pulled its programming from satellite provider DirecTV. The blackout is affecting most of its 11 million-plus subscribers in the U.S.

The decision to remove their programming and channels comes after the two sides failed to come to terms on a new carriage agreement, a business impasse that has been spreading throughout the pay TV sector.

The move came around 4 p.m. PT Sunday, about one hour before ABC began its live coverage of  2024 season kickoff college football game between the USC Trojans and LSU Tigers.

Photo: AP

A looming deadline to come to terms would seem to be Monday, September 9th, when ABC/ESPN are set to air the season premiere of Monday Night Football featuring the return of Aaron Rodgers (after his last season-ending injury in his first game as the quarterback of the New York Jets), who are now set to take on the San Francisco 49ers in their first game of the 2024-2025.

Meanwhile, this week on Tuesday, September 3rd, the season finale of The Bachelorette is set to air from 8-11pm ET, and now that will not be shown now on DirecTV. General Hospital will also be dark if watching via DirecTV as of now, to catch the fallout from Sonny shooting Agent Cates from Friday’s August 30th cliffhanger.

Photo: ABC

In the decision to pull its programming, Disney execs argued they had no choice when the contract expiration hit Sunday afternoon. Disney maintains that DirecTV refused to pay market rates for its channels and won’t make a deal involving support for its Disney+, Hulu and ESPN streaming venture.

Disney chiefs, Dana Walden and Alan Bergman and ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro shared in a statement, “While we’re open to offering DirecTV flexibility and terms which we’ve extended to other distributors, we will not enter into an agreement that undervalues our portfolio of television channels and programs. We invest significantly to deliver the No. 1 brands in entertainment, news and sports because that’s what our viewers expect and deserve. We urge DirecTV to do what’s in the best interest of their customers and finalize a deal that would immediately restore our programming,”

For their stake in the matter, Rob Thun, chief content officer at DirecTV, shot back, “The Walt Disney Co. is once again refusing any accountability to consumers, distribution partners, and now the American judicial system. Disney is in the business of creating alternate realities, but this is the real world where we believe you earn your way and must answer for your own actions. They want to continue to chase maximum profits and dominant control at the expense of consumers – making it harder for them to select the shows and sports they want at a reasonable price.”

Photo: DirecTV

It should be noted, DirecTV has pushed its programming partners for greater flexibility in creating smaller, lower-cost channel bundles. ESPN and other sports channels are among the biggest drivers of annual programming cost increases for MVPDs (Multichannel Video Programming Distributor) such as DirecTV. Disney counters that the cost of sports rights are going up, not down and that it has been open to new options, apropos of the deal that also ended the Charter Communications standoff.

DirecTV also stated,”Disney fills its ABC broadcast network airtime with cheap-to-produce primetime gameshows, unscripted spinoffs, old former ABC hits, or simulcast content from other Disney-owned channels like ESPN while demanding ever-increasing prices from distributors and ultimately consumers.”

So, do you watch any of your favorite shows or sports programming on Disney-related channels on DirecTV? Do you hope the standoff gets settled sooner than later to enable your viewing habits to go back to “normal” if using the satellite provider? Share your thoughts on the dispute via the comment section below.

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I hope the amount of viewers who subscribe to Direct TV, and if they watch GH.can be determined.

I pay 4.99 a month for CityTV thru the Amazon Prime at 9.99 a month to watch GH.

Everything else I watch I use a free digital annetta.

CityTv is the channel I cannot recieve thru my digital annetta, mostly due to a huge building blocking the signal.

I guess I would pay GH 15 bucks a month for the enjoyment it brings.

Manitoba Canada GH fan

Are you being charged $9.99 for CityTV through Prime now? CityTV site says it’s $4.99 but when I go to subscribe on Prime it says it costs $9.99. Is Amazon really up-charging by $5.00/mo?

We pay a lot of money for Direct TV this is unacceptable!

It is unexpected, I had no notice & now no ABC channels I like. I’m searching for another subscriber.

Me to so upset that we were not notified about this been a directtv coustmer for over 20 years

Absolutely Unacceptable !!! I’m tired of this! I swear every other day I’m worried about this happening , abc is the channel I watch the most! I need a new system, I need to learn more about streaming but I love my DVR any suggestions?

I pay alot of money for Direct TV. We better get our channels back. Or i’m NOT paying a Bill for channels we don’t get no more.They took my CBS off me now. Now I have ABC & the rest of the Disney channels taken off me. This is unacceptable I’ll quit paying Direct TV if they keep taking my channels off

Comcast is pulling a similar scam right now, with the “Big Ten Football Network”. At exactly the same time that the football conference did a major expansion by adding the 4 best college football programs on the west coast.

There’s always some version of this con going on between a cable or satellite franchise and a “content provider” and they’re always timed right for the start of a season, whether it’s football season, the fall TV season (which overlap anyway) or the “march madness” basketball season.

And they wonder why we use “bootleg” streams here in Hell?

I agree Comcast did the same thing with Bally Sports! I switched to the Direct channel think these big companies need some regulations this is hard enough too hard on us to pay for these services

Unacceptable- no notice- I pay a lot for direct tv and if Disney wants more for it’s service than the price would be passed on to consumers and then it should be my decision to stay with direct tv or not but to just be disconnected without any notice is NOT acceptable.

This is totally unexpected and a disservice to all the loyal customers. Both sides should be ashamed of themselves. Greed greed greed is what runs our country. We deserve better than this. We already are forced to pay way to much, if we want to watch our favorites shows. Enough is enough.

I join with everyone else I am truly upset with Directtv that they can’t agree or work it out with Disney. I miss watching my local news on 6ABC of Philadelphia, watching General Hospital and all the shows that I watch. So I hope everything is worked out by September 3, 2024.

I am totally in agreement with you. We all pay too much as it is for Direct/AT&T & I feel like it’s almost intentional. I would like for our state governments, commissioners to step in & assist citizens with this.

This is bs, always something! Do it during the superbowl

Do we get a discount since we can’t watch the games we paid extra to watch

Disney done gone woke

I’m in complete agreement with all of you. I had no idea this was happening! Today of all days, GH fallout from Friday’s show & The Bachelorette Finale‼️

Not quite understanding how you equate paying for broadcasting rites with “gone woke”. Please elaborate.

Sounds like no one wants to own up, do the right thing and not screw over customers. If it’s Disney doing this, then I hope Florida Governor Ron DeSantis penalizes them harshly. Do whatever you want to them. If it’s Directv, shame on you for screwing your customersagain. You charge us way too much and keep raising your prices. I was about to find another provider anyway before the end of the year and use streaming services Hulu. I can see Bachelorette finale on ABC.com but I shouldn’t have to as I am paying Directv for that.

Meatball Ron doesn’t have anything to say about this. Di$ney’s broadcasting & streaming division doesn’t have anything to do with Di$ney World in Orlando. Or Di$neyland in Anaheim, for that matter.

This would be ALL Disney’s greedy fault! They don’t consider there to be enough money in the Solar system , to make them happy!

What about the debate that is supposed to air on ABC 9/10/24? Probably the most important debate in history and these people pull the channel so 11 million of us can’t see it? Makes a person wonder, doesn’t it?

It does. But we should be able to find out how we can pull the plug on Direct

I just did by canceling and going with Dish Network!

That’s a very good point. How convenient. I’m going to get on the band wagon and call directv and have them reimburse me for the channels I don’t get that I’m paying for.

The debate will be simulcast on other networks, just like the first debate between Biden and Trump. So even if the Disney/DirectTV dispute isn’t resolved by then, you’ll be able to watch it on another channel besides ABC.

If your ABC TV feed is still disrupted because of this greed fueled dragonshit next week, I’m sure they will be carrying the debate on the “ABC News Live” digital channel. Which is available as a YouTube stream, and also listed among the “live channels” on most of your popular streaming platforms Tubi/Roku/Pluto/Xumo etc.

A couple of options for y’all … try a digital antenna! You can pull in 50-70 channels for free, usually including all of your local broadcast affiliates. For ABC/FOX programming, you can watch it all on a delay with just a basic Hulu account. Neither of these will help you with ESPN programming, but it will get you your ABC shows and events.

It’s on other channels. First thing I checked and DVR’d

Please get this settled and give us a discount on our Direct account

The only channel I watch. Even ABC news is tolerable. Nbc, terrible, CBS, terrible…
So now no football, no GH , hope we all get refund for however many days we can’t watch!!!
UNREAL!

This happens too much with them..I’m done with them..They want their payment on time and I want my shows on time.

I hope that this depute is over soon. We deserve to have no interution in our program and sports, My US Open tennis on now. I love it and it cut off in the middle of matches.

UnAcceptable no notice no nothing but still going to be charged the same amount of money. Something needs to be done.

Absolutely no excuse. GH is one of the shows I watch every day and now I have no idea what’s going on. This is inexcusable for both parties. It’s not the way to settle this at the cost of subscribers

Put ABC CHANNEL 7 INCHICAGO BACK ON

Unacceptable they turned it off without any warning that’s nuts. Hope they come to agreement soon I’m a GH fan and missing my news as well.

I agree unacceptable to turr it off no notice. They need to refund us for the channels we can’t watch.

Pay them what they want and leave politics out of this.

Boo directv. We pay so much for your services. It’s time to look for a new provider. I’m so disappointed in this whole mess.

Just to let you know if we lose ABC or anymore channel we will change carriers…we already pay to much for the channels we like…so be advised you will lose a customer

I get dtv stream and it affects me too and we pay to much money for l this crap they show now fix it and I don’t mean raising our prices!!!! Next time give us warning these channels should be free!!

Greed is unstoppable, my Direct bill gos up & up , too expensive to go to Disney:: welcome to America Fire Stick here I come

If Direct TV don’t figure it out lm changing to someone else l need my General Hospitaluyquuhww

I had ATT for years – recently Uverse. When I had trouble with that I switched to Direct TV Streaming about 2 years ago. This is second time in a year we have lost ABC, which I watch for news,football and GH. I am going to check into other options for streaming to get live national and local newscasts I like, football and GH. I have Hulu and can watch GH the next day, but after a cliff hanger last Friday, the Labor Day rerun I was very disappointed not to be able to watch today when it was broadcast. It is very frustrating to pay for a service and not get it.

My one pleasure for the day is to record General Hospital and watch it in the evening I also enjoy Free form channel

I also pay Directv a lot of money so now I have to come to my daughters house to watch GH. Not fair to me or her So do I need to get another cable co or what .

Also 911 series just changed to ABC network starts this month new season hurry get my channels back

This is ridiculous. ATT is higher than most and we’re getting less than others. I’m searching for a new carrier. They lost this long time bundled client

SO UPSET!! I have watched General Hospital since day, one and now suddenly at 75 years of age I can’t watch it because of all this damn technology and crap. Not to mention the cost so ridiculous and now it’s not I won’t be able to watch the finale of the bachelorette either. Life is short and when you get old TV keeps you occupied and happy so much for happiness.

I am. Missing GH. Resolve your issues

It sucks if I can find a streaming company that’s not affected by this crap I will change providers. I might just go back to whatever channels I can get from my antenna. At least I won’t be pay these outragous prices, to get screwed over by greedy businesses.

I need ABC channel to go back on that’s one of the reasons I pay Direct tv they need to fix this ASAP!!! Like NOW

Yes, well, I have been on the fence about whether to give up a life long habit of watching GH. It’s gotten so bad. Looks like the contract dispute made the decision for me.

If this is not settled this week
I will be changing tv providers

I am elderly , live rurally been dtv customer for 20 years. What idiot takes off ESPN and sec on opening football weekend. I pay extra for sports pkg. guess dish will have new customer if it’s not settled by this weekend , been waiting for fall football since playoffs in Jan, really a dumbass administration.

It’s all about the Benjamin’s $$$!

My mom lives in an assisted living facility that uses DirecTV what a shame since she watches Channel 7 exclusively Disney with its billions of dollars has screwed poor elderly people out of some viewing pleasure total drag

Is Disney putting the squeeze on General Hospital? Crazy storylines…willow and Drew, really? Great actor departures…what’s up?

I am 78 years old and retired. I have been watching General Hospital for over 40 years. Please don’t take that show off and please settle this. Thank you

To estimate how many of the 10 million DIRECTV subscribers might be among the 2 million people who watch *General Hospital* daily, we can use the following approach:

1. **Proportion of U.S. households with DIRECTV:** As of recent data, DIRECTV had around 10 million subscribers, and there are approximately 123 million households in the U.S. This means about 8.13% of U.S. households have DIRECTV.

2. **Proportion of DIRECTV households among viewers:** If we assume the viewership of *General Hospital* is uniformly distributed across different TV providers, then approximately 8.13% of the 2 million *General Hospital* viewers would be DIRECTV subscribers.

– **Calculation:**
\[
2,000,000 \times 0.0813 \approx 162,600
\]

So, an estimated **162,600 DIRECTV subscribers** are among the 2 million people who watch *General Hospital* daily.

This estimate assumes that viewership is evenly distributed among TV providers, which may not be perfectly accurate but provides a reasonable approximation. It’s all about the math.

I live in Louisiana. I don’t have DirecTV. But…in my neck of the woods, I know A LOT of people who have DirecTV. And…they are not gonna be very happy whenever they hear this. At all.

I’ve been watching WABC tv since I was born, I only got direct tv, because I had this same problem with Spectrum, however now I see that the common denominator is Disney. Disney even wants to own all these channels under the guise that they are offering Affordable bundles, however in order to watch other channels that people wish to watch we have to have cable cable and 10,000 bundle packages, I want to watch most of my channels under one package bundle, bundle, bundle, holding customers hostage by being a monopolizer of television networks. Disney Should either offer cable packages or lead things up to programming networks. Disney was built on the principles of family friendly entertainment. Yet now Disney has become divisive and controlling. I don’t find this practice fair to consumers, and I am quite frankly a little upset. I changed cable packages just for this reason only to find out that Disney is the guilty one.

General Hospital

GENERAL HOSPITAL: Sonny Tells Dante, “I Don’t Want a Son Like You,” While Michael Tells Brook Lynn to Bide Her Time Till Chase and Willow Have an Affair

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Sonny, Dante, Michael, Brook Lynn General Hospital

On the Thursday, October 1 episode of General Hospital, both Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) and Michael Corinthos (Rory Gibson) had some things to say and what they had to say didn’t go over well with whom they were talking to!

Sonny had a confrontation with his son, Dante (Dominic Zamprogna), while Michael leveled with Brook Lynn (Amanda Setton) over Chase (Josh Swickard).

GH is setting up a scenario where everyone is going to make it look like Sonny was responsible for having Sidwell (Carlo Rota) beat up in Pentonville; while viewers already know Ava (Maura West) and Drew (Cameron Mathison) were behind it.

Sonny and Dante

Courtesy/ABC

A VISIT WITH DAD

Now, Dante comes to Sonny’s house. He wants to know straight up from his dad if he ordered the attack at Pentonville. Sonny flatly denies any culpability or responsibility, but Dante refuses to believe him.

Dante informs Sonny he has video footage of Sully and Vito at the prison. Sonny explains to Dante he doesn’t know why Sully beat up both Curtis and Dante. Things escalated when Sonny was deeply hurt that Dante refused to believe him. Dante says he was disappointed that his father didn’t respect him enough to be truthful with him!

Sonny asks Dante to consider that he was being set up. He says all he did was to tell Vito to instruct Sully to keep a watchful eye on Sidwell, not to harm him. No matter what Sonny said, Dante continued hammering him with how he knew deep down, even though he said he left the mob, he had to finish off Sidwell for himself.

Next, Sonny explains everything he has ever done was to provide for and to protect his family. Dante fired back that he doesn’t want to deal anymore with Sonny’s half-baked truths. As the two men argue, Gio (Giovanni Mazza) shows up at Sonny’s front door and overhears Sonny losing his temper and shouting at Dante, “Get out of my house! I don’t want a son like you!”  The scenes featured an excellent performance by Maurice Benard.

Michael and Brook Lynn

Courtesy/ABC

MICHAEL THE MANIPULATOR

While this is going down, outside the Quartermaine boathouse, Brook Lynn opens up to Michael about living at the Q’s with Chase being there, since he only came back due to legal advice from his lawyer, Monet Mitchell (Blythe Howard).

Brook Lynn questioned whether they should get legally separate. Michael insisted that would be a big mistake. When she asks why, Michael tells Brook Lynn to bide her time until Chase and Willow (Katelyn MacMullen) have an affair; then she’d have full custody of Phoebe.

An angered Brook Lynn pushed Michael into the water and accuses him of moving Willow back into the gatehouse with intent on putting Chase and Willow in closer proximity and sacrificing Brook Lynn’s family in the process.  As the two cousins bicker, Chase shows up asking Brook Lynn if she is OK. Michael punctuates their talk with “You know, I’m right.”

CURTIS FIGURES OUT A WAY TO GET OUT OF THE SLAMMER

At GH, Willow visits Curtis (Donnell Turner) in his hospital room. Curtis wants Willow to get him pardoned and keep him out of jail, and in return, he will help her nail Sonny.

Next, Willow tells Dr. Tristan Roberts (Dean Geyer) she wants Curtis held for observation for three more days. He agrees to do so under one condition, that she understands that he may need to call in a favor from a congresswoman.

So, what did you think of how Dante accused his father and refused to believe Sonny’s answers? Is this the end of their father and son relationship for good? Is Michael the most manipulative person of all, except for Willow? Do the two deserve each other? Do you want Chase and Willow to have an affair? And what of Curtis? Does he have many redeeming qualities left? Share your thoughts via the comment section,  but first check out the talk Michael had with Brook Lynn.

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General Hospital

GH Alum Tajh Bellow and Y&R Alum Loren Lott Star in New Tiktok and Microdrama ‘Love Island’ Spoof

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Tajh Bellow and Loren Lott

Two soap opera alums very familiar to fans of General Hospital and The Young and the Restless are paired together in a new short-form digital series from none other than Issa Rae’s production entity HOORAE Digital.

Look for Tajh Bellow (ex-TJ Ashford, GH)) and Loren Lott (ex-Ana Hamilton, Y&R) as part of the cast of  The Compatibility Experiment, premiering on October 14, 2026, exclusively on TikTok and its companion microdrama platform, PineDrama.

In the video teaser, it appears that Bellow and Lott play a couple, Kelvin and Camila, set in a Love Island reality show-esque environment trying to win the one million dollar cash prize, only what could go wrong?

The Compatibility Experiment

Photo: HOORAE

The Compatibility Experiment loglines share that it brings a fast-paced, relationship-focused reality check—much like Love Island with a twist. The show takes a participant’s current relationship, introduces them to a potentially more compatible partner, and forces them to navigate the differences with life-changing money on the line.

The new series is part of a groundbreaking content deal between HOORAE Digital and TikTok to develop premium short-form storytelling. The ensemble cast also features; Ayona, Reggie Luck, JaNa Craig, Tosin Morohunfola, Jessica Jacoby, Georgia Warner, and Nick Cassidy.

General Hospital fans know Tajh Bellow for his performances as TJ Ashford, and who earned two Daytime Emmy nominations along the way during his run. Bellow took over the role in 2018 and last appeared on the ABC daytime drama series in December of 2024.

Loren Lott first appeared as Devon’s (Bryton James) sister Ana Hamilton on The Young and the Restless from 2018 to 2019; making a brief return in 2024. She has continued to perform on the stage and screen with recent credits including: Bel-Air, Cherish the Day, and All American: Homecoming.

Check out the trailer for The Compatibility Experiment below and let us know what you think of its concept and if you are glad to see Tajh and Loren again? Hoping they might return to daytime in their GH and Y&R roles at some point in the future? Weigh-in via the comment section.

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GENERAL HOSPITAL: Ava and Drew Revealed to be Behind Framing Sonny for Sidwell’s Prison Beatdown

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Drew and Ava

If you thought that the person responsible for the Pentonville brawl that saw Sidwell (Carlo Rota) and Curtis (Donnell Turner) taken to General Hospital was Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard) or even Sidwell himself, you were dead wrong! On the Wednesday, September 30 episode of GH, it turned out that the culprits were actually Ava (Maura West) and Drew (Cameron Mathison).

In story, Drew apparently bankrolled the attack on Sidwell and framing Sonny. He told Ava their planned worked (she came up with it!) but was horrified when Drew informed her that Curtis got caught in the crosshairs. Ava is visibly upset because of her longtime friendship with Curtis’ daughter, Trina Robinson (Tabyana Ali). Drew tried to make Ava see the bright side. Curtis was witness to it and his presence will cast doubt on Sonny’s claims to that he had gotten out of the mob and gone legit.

Later, Vito shows up at Drew’s. They informed him that his guy on the inside of the slammer made a big mistake by hurting their friend and ordered him to leave town.

Maura West

Courtesy/ABC

BOATHOUSE BRAWL

In other major developments, Danny (Asher Antonyzyn) and Rocco (Finn Carr) have a blow out fight as Danny blames his “brother” for the reason Charlotte was sent off to boarding school.

Rocco told off Danny for Charlotte’s (Bluesy Burke) reckless behavior and he explains he had to protect his sister. He went in on Danny saying that his mother Lulu (Alexa Havins) has been right to send Charlotte to boarding school and far away from Danny.

However, Rocco went a bit too far when he shouted, “And if your mom was alive, she would send you away too!” Next, Danny punched out Rocco, leading to a terrible brawl. An angered Danny yells at Rocco to, “Stay away from me and everyone in my family. And don’t you ever mention my mom again!” Danny storms off.

Rocco

Courtesy/ABC

Now alone outside the boathouse, Rocco flashes back to his first kiss with Scout (Kayden Brenna Tokarksi), hoping that his fight with Danny will not escalate and ruin their budding romance. Meanwhile, a bloodied-mouth Danny heads over to Sonny’s and Jason (Steve Burton) is there at the same time. He then admits that he has a bad fight with Rocco and they are both beaten up.

WILL SCOUT WISE UP?

At the end of the episode, Scout, who had a fight with Alexis (Nancy Lee Grahn) over Drew, and who keeps telling everyone how good a man her dad truly is, comes upon a suspicious scene.

Scout hides behind the wall outside Drew’s. She sees her dad, Ava and Vito talking. Next, Scout seems to overhear Vito assuring Drew and Ava that their business dealings are done, and he’ll be leaving Port Charles for good.

So, what did you think of the reveal that Ava and Drew were behind framing Sonny for the prison beatdown of Sidwell (and Curtis)? Do you think Danny and Rocco’s relationship can be repaired, or do you think the teenagers will continue to be at each other’s throats? Finally, do you hope Scout gets a clue and stops thinking her dad walks on air? Weigh-in via the comment section, but first check out how Ava and Drew conspired below.

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Jonathan Bennett joins the cast of GH as Joe Fitzpatrick. Catch the latest promo! Leave a comment.Leave A Comment

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