A class action lawsuit has been filed against Charter Communications after the company instituted a blackout for all Disney-related channels on its Spectrum cable TV service due to an ongoing carriage dispute.
Filed in Florida federal court on Tuesday, the lawsuit alleges that Charter declined a carriage offer from Disney to extend negotiations and blackout all Disney-owned channels during high-profile events. Per The Hollywood Reporter (THR):
A lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Florida federal court faults Charter for allegedly declining an offer from Disney to extend negotiations, which would have kept Disney-owned channels like the ESPN networks up for consumers in the middle of major programming events, including the U.S. Open tennis tournament and college football. It seeks an order that would require Charter to cease blacking out Disney channels or provide reimbursement for those that are not being provided. Charter has offered customers a $15 rebate but only if they call in to customer service.
The proposed class action alleges breach of contract and violations of Florida consumer protection laws. It looks to represent all Charter customers whose access to Disney-owned networks was cut off by the blackout, as well as a smaller class of Florida consumers who were charged the entirety of their bill “despite not being allotted access to all the advertised services.” Charter is the second-largest cable TV company in the U.S., with roughly 14.7 million subscribers.
On August 31, for instance, during the University of Florida and University of Utah football game, Spectrum users who went to ESPN were met with a message that blamed Disney for the blackout.
“We offered Disney a fair deal, yet they are demanding an excessive increase,” the message stated. “They also want to limit our ability to provide greater customer choice in programming packages forcing you to take and pay for channels you may not want. We are very disappointed with their position, which has negatively impacted our customers.”
Other Disney channels such as FX and National Geographic as well as the SEC and ACC networks were also blacked out for consumers. The lawsuit claims that Spectrum forced consumers to suffer monetary loss by not delivering on promised channels without compensation.
“Charter knew the debts they sought to collect were not legitimate because Defendant had actual knowledge they were not providing the contractually obligated services they were required to supply,” the lawsuit says.
Charter has specifically taken issues with Disney’s higher licensing fees and packaging inflexibility, which it claims ignores “the realities of a shifting marketplace.” Charter even has proposed abandoning the video business completely.
“The rising cost of programming is the single greatest factor in higher cable TV prices, and we are fighting hard to hold the line on programming rates imposed on us by companies like Disney,” it said.
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