On the evening of August 31, 2023, millions of viewers sat down to watch a competitive nationally televised opener to the college football season on ESPN, featuring defending Pac-12 champion Utah upsetting Florida.
To the surprise of many of Charter Communications' 14.7 million pay TV customers, a blackout of ESPN, along with ABC O&Os and 24 other Disney cable networks, would begin that evening, depriving them of access to the game ... and ultimately changing the way pay TV program licensing negotiations are handled.
