DirecTV Now Paying Customers To Subscribe to Competitors

DirecTV wants its customers to stay with the service during an increasingly nasty dispute with Disney that threatens to black out tonight’s "Monday Night Football" game.

DirecTV said the deals with Sling and Fubo are a “small way” to help customers while the dispute over the expired distribution agreement with Disney continues into a second week. I Photo: EEIM Wikimedia Commons

To keep its customers happy, DirecTV has developed an unusual strategy: It’s paying them to subscribe to a rival, Jordan Valinsky reported for CNN.

DirecTV has struck deals with Sling, owned by rival satellite provider Dish Network, and Fubo to offer its customers credits and discounts to sign up for competing streaming services so they can watch the game, which is airing on ABC and ESPN—two networks blacked out on DirecTV.

Affected customers of DirecTV, DirecTV Stream, and U-Verse can get a free weeklong trial of Fubo for two of its packages that carry ESPN and Disney networks, along with an additional $30 off the first month of service.

DirecTV is also giving its customers a $30 credit to sign up for Sling’s orange tier, which includes ESPN channels.

DirecTV said the deals are a “small way” to help customers while the dispute over the expired distribution agreement with Disney continues into a second week. The company has increased credits to customers from $20 to $30.

DirecTV recently filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission, accusing Disney of not negotiating in good faith.

The 10-page complaint alleges that “Disney insists on bundling and penetration requirements that a federal district court judge in New York recently found in the context of the ‘Venu’ joint venture to be unlawful, anti-competitive, and ‘bad for consumers,’” as also reported by Robert Ilich for CNN.