College football fans were eagerly awaiting Thursday’s season-opening clash between Florida and No. 14 Utah, which aired on ESPN. When it came time for kickoff, however, those watching on Spectrum were met with nothing but a black screen.
After a while, a message appeared on screens from the cable service provider, indicating that Disney had removed its programming from Spectrum amid ongoing negotiations over carriage fees the cable company pays to Disney.
Spectrum subscribers were unable to watch the Gators-Utes showdown as a result of the dispute between the cable company and Disney, which resulted in a blackout of ESPN, as well as other Disney-owned cable stations.
Disney released a statement Thursday evening, via Sports Business Journal’s John Ourand, saying in part, “We’ve been in ongoing negotiations with Charter Communications for some time and have not yet agreed to a new market-based agreement. ... We’re committed to reaching a mutually agreed upon resolution with Charter and we urge them to work with us to minimize the disruption to their customers.”
Many fans had been anticipating Thursday’s game for quite some time, and they were in disbelief after getting hit with the message from Spectrum on their screens. College football fans took to social media to express their rage and frustration over the situation which prevented them from enjoying the early-season action.
All ESPN networks just went black on Spectrum, right as people are watching college football like the Utah/Florida game, via @bubbaprogpic.twitter.com/50jAb0QOSI
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) September 1, 2023
YouTube TV and Hulu users seeing Spectrum blackout ESPN: pic.twitter.com/YkPm9nD2tq
— Danny Armstrong (@DArmstrong44) September 1, 2023
For everyone else who was screwed by Spectrum and ESPN, here’s the opening score of the Utah game… pic.twitter.com/8QOG2wIrqu
— ThreeTechPod 🎙 (@ThreeTechPod) September 1, 2023
Why is ESPN not working on my TV?!
— Mark Stoops Burner Parody (@BBN_Commenter) September 1, 2023
Count your days @GetSpectrum
Is everyone blacked out on ESPN a Spectrum customer?
— DarkStoneInsiders (@DSI_Insight) September 1, 2023
Power play by the cable company
Look at these awesome first quarter highlights
— Tony Clements (@TonyCMKE) September 1, 2023
Thanks Spectrum & ESPN! pic.twitter.com/cWvYXNZ23J
Charter Spectrum users watching their neighbors YouTubeTV ESPN feed through the blinds pic.twitter.com/wcAAZelYKf
— Jordan Woodson (@Jordan_Woodson) September 1, 2023
Spectrum and ESPN/Disney both some goofys (no pun intended) for having a black up right at the kickoff for the 1st Thursday college football game.
— Cliff B (@CBurns20) September 1, 2023
Lmao tell me spectrum didn't just literally cut ESPN off right before kickoff of the Florida vs Utah game....
— Mike 🏈 footballiance.com (@DraftMaverick) September 1, 2023
All ESPN networks just went black on Spectrum. Guess a bluff was called.
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) September 1, 2023
