Disney and DirecTV are nearing a deal to end their blackout, according to people familiar with the matter.
Disney and DirecTV are nearing an agreement to end a blackout, according to people familiar with the matter. The deal could come as soon as Saturday, they said.
The dispute left DirecTV's more than 11 million customers without access to the U.S. Open, college football and this season's opening"Monday Night Football" game.DirecTV has been pushing for the right to offer skinnier genre bundles that don't include sports, around topics such as kids and family, the people said. Terms of the potential deal were not immediately learned.
The blackout had underscored how valuable live sports is both for the media companies that own rights to air the games and the pay-TV providers who want to show them. "We never want to black out. It's not good for either side. It's not good for the customer, of course. We did everything we could," ESPN's Pitaro said on CNBC last week.
During the dispute, many small business owners were also unable to offer the full slate of sports that they usually do. Many bars and restaurants rely on DirecTV as a commercial distributor of the NFL's"" package of out of market games — which was unaffected by the blackout — and therein use the pay TV provider for the rest of its TV content, including ESPN.
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