Posted in: ABC, Opinion, TV | Tagged: ABC, donald trump, kamala harris, opinion

Harris/Trump Debate Deal Dead: DirecTV Rejects Disney Offer (UPDATE)

Forget about the good news. A possible deal between Disney and DirecTV to air the VP Kamala Harris/Donald Trump debate has fallen apart.

UPDATE [4:44 pm ET]: Well, it was nice while it lasted. "Unfortunately, DirecTV has rejected our offer," a Disney rep told Deadline Hollywood. For their part, DirecTV sees it as Disney rejecting their offer to restore ABC and other channels (like the ones carrying "Monday Night Football" and the upcoming Emmy Awards) "On Tuesday, Disney requested a unique exception to return ABC-only for tonight because it's hosting the 2024 Presidential Debate, an event widely available across other major broadcast stations and news networks," DirecTV states on its website. "Unfortunately, returning only Disney's ABC stations from the entire portfolio of channels for a limited 3-hour window will cause customer confusion among those who would briefly see the debate only to lose the channel again shortly after." The statement went on to lay out the offer that it claims Disney rejected.

"DirecTV agreed to return ABC in time for tonight's Presidential Debate if Disney is also willing to return all its channels across platforms through the end of 'Monday Night Football' at 11:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Sept. 17. Returning the Disney-owned channels for the next week while we work to reach a new agreement would benefit customers who would regain access to ABC for the debate and the 76th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony on Sunday, Sept. 16 as well as their favorite college and professional football games on ABC and ESPN, ACC or SEC networks," the statement read.

ORIGINAL REPORTING: Tonight brings the first (and possibly only) debate between Vice-President Kamala Harris and ex-reality show host, multi-impeached ex-POTUS, and convicted felon Donald Trump, with the two facing off at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia for ABC News' U.S. Presidential Debate. With World News Tonight anchor and managing editor David Muir and World News Tonight Sunday anchor and ABC News Live Prime anchor Linsey Davis serving as moderators, the debate is airing live on ABC and streaming live on ABC News Live, Disney+, and Hulu – but up until today, there was serious doubt as to whether or not DirecTV customers would be able to watch it on ABC. That's because the Walt Disney Company and DirecTV are still in the middle of trying to work out a new carriage deal – which means that for the time being, channels like ABC, ESPN, and others have gone dark for more than 11 million DirecTV subscribers nationwide.

When all of that went down last week, we addressed how it could impact voters being able to watch a debate between two U.S. Presidential candidates and how the two sides should consider a "cease fire" that brings back ABC long enough for the debate. Well, it looks like that's what's about to go down, with Disney providing a three-hour feed of ABC News coverage to DirecTV viewers (beginning at 8 pm ET/5 pm PT with pre-date coverage, leading into the debate).

"As we announced in May, the ABC News presidential debate will be widely available across broadcast, cable, and streaming. Although we have yet to reach an agreement, we are providing a three-hour feed of ABC News coverage to all impacted DirecTV customers at no cost because we want all Americans to be able to view tonight's debate at this important moment in our history," a network spokesperson shared earlier today. "We remain at the table negotiating with DirecTV and the restoration of our programming to their subscribers is completely within their control."

Here's a look at how the rules shaped up – including mics being muted between answers and no debate audience.

The debate will be 90 minutes with two commercial breaks.

The two seated moderators, David Muir and Linsey Davis, will be the only people asking questions.

A coin flip was held virtually on Tuesday, Sept. 3, to determine podium placement and order of closing statements; Trump won the coin toss and chose to select the order of statements. The former president will offer the last closing statement, and Vice President Harris selected the right podium position on screen (stage left).

Candidates will be introduced by the moderators.

The candidates enter upon introduction from opposite sides of the stage; the incumbent party will be introduced first.

No opening statements; closing statements will be two minutes per candidate.

Candidates will stand behind podiums for the duration of the debate.

Props or prewritten notes are not allowed onstage.

No topics or questions will be shared in advance with campaigns or candidates.

Candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper, and a bottle of water.

Candidates will have two-minute answers to questions, two-minute rebuttals, and one extra minute for follow-ups, clarifications, or responses.

Candidates' microphones will be live only for the candidate whose turn it is to speak and muted when the time belongs to another candidate.

Candidates will not be permitted to ask questions of each other.

Campaign staff may not interact with candidates during commercial breaks.

Moderators will seek to enforce timing agreements and ensure a civilized discussion.

There will be no audience in the room.

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