See which college football games are off TV in Wilmington from Spectrum-Disney fight

A dispute between Charter Communications and Disney led to several channels being blacked out, beginning Thursday night for Spectrum cable subscribers, which college football fans discovered en masse as they tuned in to watch the game between Florida and No. 14 Utah on ESPN.

Charter says it has approximately 14.7 million "video subscribers" via Spectrum. The blackout applies to 19 different Disney-owned cable channels, Spectrum says, but college football fans took note with the blackout going into effect right around the 8 p.m. ET kickoff of Thursday night's biggest game.

If the disagreement continues into the first full weekend of college football, Wilmington-area subscribers of Charter and Spectrum could miss out on a host of games, but should get North Carolina's opener against South Carolina in Charlotte on Saturday night, which is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on ABC.

That might not be the case for Duke's anticipated home opener against Clemson, set for Labor Day night in Durham.

What channels does Disney own?

Disney channels on Spectrum include ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, the ACC Network, the SEC Network, Freeform, FX, National Geographic and the Disney Channel.

Spectrum statement

Spectrum released the following statement, much of which they displayed on ESPN and other Disney channels in lieu of regular broadcasts, along with a message to "voice your concerns" at DisneyESPNFairDeal.com:

"The Walt Disney Company has removed their programming from Spectrum which creates hardship for our customers.

"We offered Disney a fair deal, yet they are demanding an excessive increase.

"They also want to limit our ability to provide greater customer choice in programming packages forcing you to take and pay for channels you may not want.

"Spectrum is on your side and fighting to keep costs down while protecting and maximizing customer choice.

"The rising cost of programming is the single greatest factor in higher cable TV prices, and we are fighting hard to hold the line on programming rates imposed on us by companies like Disney.

"We apologize for the inconvenience."

Disney statement

Disney also released a statement, via the Hollywood Reporter:

“We’ve been in ongoing negotiations with Charter Communications for some time and have not yet agreed to a new market-based agreement. As a result, their Spectrum TV subscribers no longer have access to our unrivaled portfolio of live sporting events and news coverage plus kids, family and general entertainment programming from the ABC Owned Television Stations, the ESPN networks, the Disney-branded channels, Freeform, the FX networks and the National Geographic channels.

"Disney Entertainment has successful deals in place with pay TV providers of all types and sizes across the country, and the rates and terms we are seeking in this renewal are driven by the marketplace. 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.”

When will Spectrum have ESPN again?

Well ... it's hard to say. But Thursday's moves seemingly bring added tension to the negotiations.

As George M. Thomas of the Akron Beacon Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, notes, Disney and Google got into a similar standoff in 2021 that kept ESPN off YouTube TV for several days.

What games are on the Disney-ESPN television networks on Labor Day Weekend?

Games on ESPN+, ACC Network+ and SEC Network+ are already streaming and require a separate subscription.

But here's a list of the games you would be able to watch on TV and might not be able to now.

Friday

ESPN: Louisville at Georgia Tech

ACC Network: Miami (Ohio) at Miami (Florida)

Saturday

ESPN: Arkansas State at Oklahoma; UMass at Auburn; Texas A&M vs. New Mexico; Coastal Carolina at UCLA

ESPNU: Louisiana Tech at SMU; California at North Texas; South Alabama at Tulane

ACC Network: Northern Illinois at Boston College; Wofford at Pittsburgh; Old Dominion at Virginia Tech

SEC Network: Ball State at Kentucky; Southeast Louisiana at Mississippi State; Middle Tennessee at Alabama

Sunday

ESPN: Jackson State vs. Florida A&M

Monday

ESPN: Clemson at Duke

Spectrum-ESPN outage also impacts US Open broadcasts

Thursday night's US Open tennis matches on ESPN were also victims of the dispute, resulting in the USTA issuing a statement.

"We're very disappointed for our fans and viewers around the country that Spectrum and Charter could not resolve their dispute with Disney, resulting in a loss of ESPN coverage of Thursday night's matches," the USTA said. "We're very hopeful that this dispute can be resolved as quickly as possible."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ESPN blacked out on Spectrum due to Disney-Charter dispute