Buckeye Broadband Puts Disney on Ice, Drops ESPN Ahead of New App Rollout

USTelecom pointed to a number of states and some of their subdivisions that are slowing or stopping broadband deployment because of permitting.

Buckeye Broadband Puts Disney on Ice, Drops ESPN Ahead of New App Rollout
Photo of Block Communications President and CEO Allan Block
💡
▪️Gray to Form Big Four in Louisville, Waiver Needed?▪️Lujan Seems Needy in Roth Letter▪️Charter CEO Buys $1M in CHTR Shares▪️LFAs: Trade Groups Not Playing Nice ▪️USTelecom on Permitting Nightmares

ESPN: Allan Block just put Disney on ice. Buckeye Broadband in Toledo, Ohio, has pulled ESPN from its cable TV channel lineup, citing a pricing dispute with network owner Disney that the company says would unfairly burden customers. Buckeye Broadband is owned by Block Communications run by President and CEO Allan Block, a direct descendant of Paul Block, a German immigrant who started the company 118 years ago. For decades, ESPN has been one of the most expensive pay-TV channels in the bundle, driving up the price of cable for the vast majority of customers who never watched sports.

Policyband
Unlimited Access to Broadband Breakfast and Policyband

The “overstuffed turkey” – the description given cable’s porcine packages by Warner Bros. Discover CEO David Zaslav – caused millions to flee to Netflix. Buckeye pulled the plug on Friday. “We remain steadfast in our desire to balance the value our customers receive with reasonable prices; however, our customers have made it abundantly clear they have no more appetite for increased prices,” Geoffrey Shook, Buckeye Broadband president and general manager, told Block-owned The Blade in Toledo. (More after paywall.)

Member discussion

Popular Tags