After failing to agree on new carriage terms, Disney has removed Disney Channel and other cable networks including ESPN and local ABC stations from DirecTV, which has roughly 11.3 million subscribers. A previous agreement between the two US companies expired on Sunday, which was when the channels went dark.  

Disney and DirecTV have been trading barbs throughout a standoff over carriage terms. DirecTV’s chief content officer Rob Thun released an open letter near the end of August calling for more flexible packages, lower-priced options and an aggregate experience that’s more in line with what consumers want. 

Disney’s president of platform distribution Justin Connolly fired back, saying DirecTV hadn’t been open to discussing a deal that benefited both companies, according to The Hollywood Reporter. 

When the channels were taken off DirecTV this weekend, Disney Entertainment co-chairs Dana Walden and Alan Bergman released a joint statement with Jimmy Pitaro, chairman of ESPN. 

“DirecTV chose to deny millions of subscribers access to our content just as we head into the final week of the US Open and gear up for college football and the opening of the NFL season,” the statement reads. “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 number-one 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.” 

DirecTV customers can go to the company’s website to apply for a US$20 credit as compensation for the revoked channels.