Key Points
(Bloomberg) -- Walt Disney Co.s fight with the DirecTV pay-television service is costing the companies...
Disneys Monday Night Football broadcast on ABC and ESPN attracted a US TV audience of 20.5 million viewers in its season debut, the company said Tuesday, a drop of 9.7% from last year that reflects the blackout of DirecTVs 11 million or so customers...
Subscribers to that service have been blocked from watching ABC, ESPN and other Disney-owned networks because the two sides cant come to terms on how much DirecTV should pay for the companys sports, news and entertainment programming..
Monday Night Football is among the most popular shows on TV, and the loss of DirecTV customers, representing about 15% of the US cable TV population, will reduce Disneys revenue..
The womens final attracted 1.6 million viewers, compared with a record 3.4 million viewers who tuned in last year, when up-and-coming US star Coco Gauff took home the championship..
