I have been a customer of Directv since 1998.  To put that in perspective, in 1998, a customer had to have Directv and a separate subscription to watch premium channels such as HBO and Showtime.  In recent times, I have gotten rid of the dish on the side of my house and have converted over to Directv Stream.  The convenience of being able to watch my favorite programming not only on my TV, but also on my computer, I-Pad, and cell phone has been a consumers dream.

But that dream turned into a nightmare last Sunday.  After attending the Orange-Blossom Classic in Miami Gardens, FL (which was broadcast on ESPN2), I was angrily surprised to not be able to go back to my hotel and tune into the Red Tails Classic on ESPNU, due to a contract dispute between the Disney corporation and Directv.

HBCU football fans were excited entering the opening weekend of the season because of the unprecedented access to be able to view our favorite HBCU football teams on either linear TV or a streaming platform.  A record 30 football games involving an HBCU were streamed or broadcasted last weekend, including 19 on the ABC/ESPN family of networks that had at least one HBCU football participant.

This week, another 29 games are being streamed or broadcasted, of which 10 games are being shown on ESPN+.  Unfortunately, as a Directv customer, I will be unable to watch any of them, despite having the ESPN app.  Unfortunately, the app requires the consumer to have a subscription to a streaming platform, which I have, however, my streaming platform has not carried any Disney/ABC/ESPN programming for the past week.  Billion-dollar companies are fighting billion-dollar companies over a few dollars, and the consumer is being pinched and left out.  Talk about putting the customer first (not).  Customer service is a virtue that seems to be forgotten in this dispute.

HBCU sports fans have been ecstatic over the past few years, as more of the HBCU conferences, CIAA, MEAC, SIAC, and SWAC have signed broadcast/streaming deals with ESPN.  So many of those fans are now left out in the cold, due to lack of access, not by their choice or doing.  I hope the conference commissioners and universities presidents take this dispute into consideration when looking at new deals.  I hope that the decline in viewership numbers, that will inevitably happen, do not affect current or future revenue for our, already, cash strapped conferences.  But its just not Directv.  Last year, it was Comcast.  What streaming platform or provider is next?

As a consumer, I will have to make a choice soon about where I will spend my dollars for streaming.  Yes, most of us are cutting the cord, but many of us out here love live programming, especially sports programming.  I beg you, Disney and Directv to sit down and have serious discussions and come to a resolution immediately.  College football is here.  It the opening weekend of the NFL.  I never knew who much I would miss SportsCenter, Unsportsmanlike, Get Up or First Take until they have been taken from me.  I need Steven A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe yelling on my TV.

Angrily Yours,

An Upset Consumer