NY Governor Kathy Hochul is seeking refunds for Charter Communications Inc. cable subscribers who have lost access to Walt Disney Co.-owned channels as a result of a contract renewal dispute between the two companies.
Hochul, a Democrat, directed the state’s Department of Public Service to pursue the refunds from Charter, which she said has more than 1.5 million subscribers to its Spectrum TV service in New York.
“It’s simple: if you pay your cable bill, you deserve to get the services you pay for,” Hochul said in a statement Friday.
Charter, which has more than 14.7 million subscribers nationally, can no longer air Disney networks such as ESPN and ABC as result of their dispute. Disney is seeking higher fees for its programming, while Charter wants relief from contract terms that require it to include higher-priced channels such as ESPN in cable packages, even if subscribers don’t watch them. The company also wants Disney to offer its streaming services to Charter subscribers for free.
“The potential short-term impacts include an immediate reduction in programming cost and some one-time costs, such as customer credits,” Charter said previously.
The New York Jets and Bills are scheduled for ESPN’s Monday Night Football on Sept. 11.
