Monday Night Football loses tens of millions of viewers amid Disney and DirecTV feud

Disney’s 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 DirecTV’s 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 can’t come to terms on how much DirecTV should pay for the company’s sports, news and entertainment programming. Over the weekend, DirecTV viewers couldn’t watch the US Open tennis finals.

The dispute is exacting a toll on both companies, which were already suffering from years of viewer losses as audiences canceled traditional pay-TV services for streaming.

DirecTV, which is owned by AT&T Inc. and TPG Inc., is offering consumers a $20 refund for the lost Disney services. The company was paying Disney about $2 billion a year.

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 Disney’s revenue. The broadcast averages about $45 million in ad sales per game, according to Bloomberg Intelligence estimates, or about $765 million annually.

The program averaged more than 17 million viewers a night last season. The 2023 season opener between the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills attracted nearly 23 million. Last night’s game featured the San Francisco 49ers in a 32-19 victory over the New York Jets.

The telecast also marked the debut of podcaster and former NFL player Jason Kelce as part of the broadcast team. 

“I’ve never felt better about where we are from a talent perspective on NFL right now,” ESPN content chief Burke Magnus said Tuesday at a Front Office Sports media conference. “He kind of gave us right out of the chute exactly what we were hoping for last night. He’s fun, funny, casual and he’s himself.”

Ratings for the US Open tennis finals weren’t strong, according to ESPN, partly the result of competition from college and professional football. The network didn’t reveal any numbers.

US Open tennis, while not as popular as the NFL, attracted a record 3.4 million viewers to the women’s final last year, when up-and-coming US star Coco Gauff took home the championship. The men’s final drew 2.3 million.