Subscribers could lose ABC, ESPN

AT&T, Disney Continue Talks After Blackout Deadline

AT&T and The Walt Disney Co. continued discussions on a new retransmission consent agreement on Saturday, avoiding a blackout of Disney channels that could have begun Friday night.

This message appears on the website of Disney-owned WLS-TV, Chicago.

Disney this week began warning viewers that if they were subscribers of DirecTV, Uverse or AT&T TV Now they could be losing ABC, ESPN, Freeform and other channels plus local programming in key markets including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

AT&T recently ended months-long blackouts involving CBS and Nexstar Media stations.

John Stephens, AT&T’s CFO, told an investor conference on Wednesday that as a result of those blackouts and a price increase for its pay-TV services, it could lose an extra 300,000 to 350,000 subscribers.