Step aside, Mickey Mouse.
In Disney’s ongoing fight with Charter Communications over placement of ESPN and other related channels on Spectrum cable, the corporate behemoth has brought out one of its biggest guns.
Stephen A. Smith has posted a tweet that supports the corporate position.
“Don’t know if y’all heard all the news going on in the Charter Markets with Spectrum, but folks are once again coming after the World Wide Leader. Fans currently don’t have access to live games on ESPN Networks — or any content from Disney-Branded Channels Freeform, FX and Nat GEO,” Smith tweeted on Tuesday morning. “If you are personally affected, if you want to see ESPN for LIVE games, the US OPEN or anything else your heart desires from the sports world, you can visit this website http://keepmynetworks.com for information about where you can get it.”
For now, he seems to be the only high-profile ESPN talent to directly address the carriage fight on social media.
Disney/ESPN seems to have gotten more aggressive since John Ourand of Sports Business Journal reported on Monday that: (1) Charter might soon get out of the video business altogether; and (2) Charter is referring unhappy customers to FuboTV for video, hopeful to retain broadband and wireless business. Basically, Charter doesn’t seem to care that it no longer has the Disney networks, or that it might/will lose video customers over it.
Through it all, the Disney vs. Charter fight continues, with six days to go until Week 1 of Monday Night Football.